John Fogertys 50 year music rights battle

[Rabs]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64270913

Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty wins music rights

John Fogerty ain't no fortunate one, but after this week, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer may be feeling like one.

Following a 50-year legal battle, the founding member of Creedence Clearwater Revival now owns the global publishing rights to the iconic rock band's songs.

It came after Mr Fogerty, 77, bought a majority stake in the rights to the band's catalogue from Concord Records, which has owned the rights since 2004.

"As of January this year, I own my own songs again," he wrote on Twitter.

"This is something I thought would never be a possibility. After 50 years, I am finally reunited with my songs."

Mr Fogerty owns the rights to his solo material, but his new majority interest gives him control - for the first time - over 65 Creedence Clearwater Revival copyrights, including hits like Bad Moon Rising, Have You Ever Seen The Rain, Proud Mary and Fortunate Son.

The rocker founded the group in 1968, alongside his older brother Tom, Doug Clifford and Stu Cook, and was its lead singer, lead guitarist and principal songwriter.

The California-born quartet notched nine top-10 singles and five top-10 albums on the Billboard charts, reportedly even besting the Beatles in album sales in the year 1969.

They disbanded in 1972 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

But decades of its frontman's life have been dominated by the protracted dispute that began after late music mogul Saul Zaentz signed a teenage Mr Fogerty and his group to his Fantasy Records label in the mid-1960s.

Fantasy owned the group's distribution and publishing rights. Mr Fogerty, who traded insults and lawsuits with Zaentz, also claims he lost money because the label misled him with bad investments and absorbed his earnings from royalties.

The label was sold to Concord in 2004, which quickly reinstated - and increased - the royalties Mr Fogerty had not received in some 25 years.

The company's recently announced deal with the musician comes at an undisclosed sum. It will see Concord retain the CCR master recordings already in its catalogue and continue to administer Mr Fogerty's share of the catalogue for an unspecified amount of time.

"I'm the dad [of these songs]. I created them," the rocker told Billboard on Thursday. "They never should have been taken away in the first place."

Edited January 14, 2023 by Rabs

[Sgt. Pepper]

Good for John. I think I have the first 5 on vinyl. Willie And The Poor Boys is my fav.

Edited January 14, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[rct]

So you buy back the rights you signed away as a young man and you somehow "win" your rights back? 

rct

[Sgt. Pepper]

34 minutes ago, rct said:

So you buy back the rights you signed away as a young man and you somehow "win" your rights back? 

rct

Yeah, how much in lawyer / attorney fees has he paid over the years.

Edited January 14, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Cabarone]

I remember Fantasy tried to sue him for plagiarism for copying CCR's sound...he said, "They're suing me for sounding like myself"

[kelly campbell]

That is rediculous that any kind of court case take that long.  I am happy for him.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

10 hours ago, Cabarone said:

I remember Fantasy tried to sue him for plagiarism for copying CCR's sound...he said, "They're suing me for sounding like myself"

https://ledgernote.com/blog/interesting/john-fogerty-sued-for-sounding-like-himself/

[Whitefang]

Good on him!

Whitefang

[Larsongs]

I read in the early days CCR wanted everything to be an equal split.. Even Songwriting, John did all or almost all of it.. Each had a 25% share of everything.. The other 3 fell on hard times & sold their Rights.. Leaving John with 25% ownership to the Writers % for the Songs he wrote.. He isn’t fond of the remaking original members & has no interest in working with them…

[fortyearspickn]

Googled  his nemesis at Fantasy Records -  Saul Zaentz.    Guy was an exec who took advantage of a supremely talented  teenager who worked in the warehouse there. Mis-managed the money he let CCR keep, losing them more millions.  But he was able to parlay the millions he himself got into switching from music to films: Amadeus, Cuckoos Nest, Lord of the Rings, Mosquito Coast, etc.  He mostly 'purchased the rights' to things. For example, Lord or the Rings - he purchased certain rights from United Artists who had just purchased them from Tolkien.  He went on to make a trilogy and got Oscars for various things.  In total, films his company was directing, producing, whatever - have won approximately 22 Oscars.  Some probably for "Best Costumes' etc. But 3 "Best Picture"  One, "The English Patient",  he bought the rights to when it was an unpublished novel.  Shortly after his death in 2014, his company and foundation started disolving. Two years after his death - they gave $35M  to Harvard.  Graduate School of Early Childhood Education.  Largest gift ever to a Harvard Graduate School.   So, the guy wielded a lot of power. His home base was in Berkley.  Fogerty had an uphill battle.