Ray Charles Family Wins Lawsuit

Posted by Victor Dela Casa

The 1978 amendments to the U.S. Copyright and Intellectual Properties Law explicitly allow artists to recover rights to their work after 35 years by officially terminating agreements that transferred their work to other entities such as labels and publishers.

Since its promulgation, authors, musicians and composers reaped most of the benefits getting full royalties for music which they originally made – music that turned the American music industry into a multi-billion business.

Ray Charles is one of those iconic artists. On his deathbed in 2004, he gathered all his children and had each of them sign irrevocable trusts of $500,000 each. According to his will, the rest of his estate will go to his foundation for the deaf, including personal property and all royalties to his songs.

Moving forward to 2010, the children filed termination notices to Charles’ publisher. The foundation fought back and sued the party. Even in death, Ray Charles is stirring up controversy that could’ve been avoided with the right legal advice.

Last week, a federal court judge ruled in favor of the seven children. The judge ordered the publisher to allow the children to recover music publishing rights to about 60 of Charles’ songs plus ordered the foundation to reimburse them for all legal expenses.

The copyright law’s “termination rights” provision has been contested since 1978. Publishers argued that musicians and book authors are employees and should be exempt from termination claims. This particular case, however, exposed the complexity of such claims especially if it involves deceased authors and their wills.

The judge who ruled based her decision on the premise that copyrighted works are governed by specific federal laws that give rights to surviving family members. These rights cannot be superseded by a person’s valid will or by any other agreement. The Ray Charles Robinson Foundation for the Deaf is looking to appeal the ruling.

(Original article written by Vee Dela Casa for Markowitz Gravelle, LLP. For U.S. published version, click here)

About The Author

Victor Dela Casa is a Filipino-Canadian who spent over a decade working as a business professional in Canada. Worked in IT, finance, marketing, international trade, public service, project management and the maritime industry. Degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines and Honours Diploma from Eastern College. Currently based in the Philippines and working as a professional writer for a multi-national business processes firm.