DURAN DURAN'S BATTLE TO RECLAIM COPYRIGHTS

DURAN DURAN: Rhodes, Le Bon& Taylor. Photo: Nick Ansell/PA

Members of the renowned music group, Duran Duran, are seeking to reclaim copyrights in most of their famous songs. Mr Justice Arnold has given permission for an appeal against his previous decision in favour of Gloucester Place Music (owned by Sony /ATV) that prevented the group from 'terminating copyright agreements related to their first three albums. (via The Guardian)

In the previous case, Mr. Justice Arnold had ruled that English laws of contract barred them from seeking to reclaim rights over their own works. Gloucester Place Music successfully argued that the 'band had breached music publishing agreements by serving notices to terminate the grant to the company of US copyrights in their first three albums – Duran Duran, Rio, Seven and the Ragged Tiger – plus A View to a Kill, the Bond film title track.' However, the notices were served under US copyright laws which grant songwriters “an inalienable right” to call for a reversion of copyright after 35 years. Gloucester Place's contention was that the agreements were actually governed by English laws of Contract under which such rights do not exist.

Mr. Justice Arnold had ruled as follows “...not without hesitation, I have come to the conclusion that the [Gloucester Place] interpretation of the agreements is the correct one...I conclude that [the group members] have acted in breach of the agreements by serving the notices, or, where they have not yet taken effect, will do so if they are not withdrawn.”. He further concluded that the language of the copyright agreements in question “would have conveyed to a reasonable person having the relevant background knowledge that the parties’ intention was that the ‘entire copyrights’ in the compositions should vest, and remain vested, in the claimant for the ‘full term’ of the copyrights... That implicitly precludes the group members from exercising rights under US law which have the result that the claimant’s ownership of the copyrights is brought to an end prior to their expiry.”

 

In reaction to this ruling, Nick Rhodes, the group's founding member and Keyboardist stated :

“We signed a publishing agreement as unsuspecting teenagers, over three decades ago, when just starting out and when we knew no better...Today, we are told that language in that agreement allows our long-time publishers, Sony/ATV, to override our statutory rights under US law...This gives wealthy publishing companies carte blanche to take advantage of the songwriters who built their fortune over many years, and strips songwriters of their right to rebalance this reward...We are shocked that English contract law is being used to overturn artists’ rights in another territory. If left untested, this judgment sets a very bad precedent for all songwriters of our era and so we are deciding how properly to proceed.”

According to the group, the request was registered in 2014, seeking a 'reversion of eligible copyrights in America' which was a formality in line with their rights under US copyright laws. Unfortunately, SONY/ATV then challenged their rights citing a 'contractual technicality' in the UK. The group members, Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, Roger Taylor and John Taylor, and its former member Andrew Taylor, thought it necessary to stand up for themselves and other artists that are or likely to 'suffer similar circumstances'. (via The Guardian)

As regards the grant of the right to appeal, the group was pleased based on the wider ramifications of the ruling for the creative community. Nick Rhodes stated that: “We are relieved and grateful that we have been given the opportunity to appeal this case because the consequences are wide-reaching and profound for us and all other artists...In his judgment Mr Justice Arnold stated that his decision was not made without hesitation; we were heartened by this sentiment because we felt it was an acknowledgement that something was truly flawed about the premise and reality of what is at stake...We remain hopeful that the ultimate outcome will be fair and measured to take into account and support our case and all artists’ rights.” It would be interesting to see what happens on appeal and whether the higher court's decision will address these issues in favour of Duran Duran and the creative community.