legendBobMarley: Bob Marley Family Loses Case Over Hit Records

Monday, September 13, 2010

Bob Marley Family Loses Case Over Hit Records

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bob Marley family lost a lawsuit seeking the copyrights to several of the late Jamaican reggae singer's best-known recordings.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan said the UMG Recordings unit of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group is the rightful owner of copyrights to five albums that Marley had recorded between 1973 and 1977 for Island Records
The albums "Catch a Fire," "Burnin'," "Natty Dread," "Rastaman Vibrations" and "Exodus" were recorded with Marley's band The Wailers. They include some of Marley's best-known songs, including "Get Up, Stand Up," "I Shot the Sheriff," "No Woman, No Cry" and ''One Love."

Marley died of cancer in 1981 at age 36. Friday night's ruling is a defeat for Marley's widow Rita and nine children who had sought to recover millions of dollars in damages over UMG's effort to "exploit" what they called "the quintessential Bob Marley sound recordings."
L. Peter Parcher and Peter Shukat, who are lawyers for the family, did not immediately return calls seeking comment. UMG spokesman Peter LoFrumento said the company is pleased with Cote's ruling.

Marley's family accused UMG of intentionally withholding royalties from their company Fifty-Six Hope Road Music Ltd, and ignoring a 1995 agreement assigning them rights under the original recording agreements, court papers show.
It also accused UMG of failing as required to consult with them on key licensing decisions, including the use of Marley's music as "ringtones" on AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile phones, the papers show.

But Cote concluded that Marley's recordings were "works made for hire" as defined under U.S. copyright law, entitling UMG to be designated the owner of those recordings, for both the initial 28-year copyright terms and for renewals.
"Each of the agreements provided that the sound recordings were the 'absolute property' of Island," Cote wrote. "Whether Marley would have recorded his music even if he had not entered the recording agreements with Island is beside the point."
She added that it was irrelevant that Marley might have maintained artistic control over the recording process. What mattered, she said, was that Island had a contractual "right" to accept or reject what he produced.
Cote also denied the Marley family's request for a ruling upholding its claims over digital downloads, citing ambiguity in a 1992 royalties agreement.
She directed the parties to enter court-supervised settlement talks, and scheduled an October 29 conference.

The case is Fifth-Six Hope Road Music Ltd v. UMG Recordings Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-06143.
She added that it was irrelevant that Marley might have maintained artistic control over the recording process. What mattered, she said, was that Island had a contractual "right" to accept or reject what he produced.

Cote also denied the Marley family's request for a ruling upholding its claims over digital downloads, citing ambiguity in a 1992 royalties agreement.

She directed the parties to enter court-supervised settlement talks, and scheduled an October 29 conference.

The case is Fifth-Six Hope Road Music Ltd v. UMG Recordings Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-06143.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Derek Caney)

Copyright 2010 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Bob Marley Biography

Birth name Robert Nesta Marley

Born February , 1945
Nine Mile, Saint Ann, Jamaica

Died May, 11, 1981
Miami, Florida, United States

Music Reggae, Rocksteady, Ska, Roots

Occupations Singer-songwriter, musician, Peacemaker

Instruments Vocals, Guitar

Years active 1962-81

Labels Tuff Gong, Studio One, Upsetter/Trojan, Beverley's

Associated Acts The Wailers, I Threes, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Wailers Band

Robert Nesta Marley was born on February 6, 1945 in the parish of St. Anns in Nine Miles, Jamaica to Norval Sinclair Marley and Cedella ‘Ciddy’ Malcom. Norval was a British Marine officer and Ciddy was a native Jamaican. Soon after his birth, Bob’s father left and had little contact with him although he did financially support his son.

When Bob was five, his father took him to Kingston, Jamaica. It wasn’t until a year later that Bob saw his mother again. Soon after, he moved with his mother to Trenchtown, a section of Kingston notorious for it’s rough ghettos.

In 1961, at the age of sixteen, Bob released his first song

, Judge Not, which did not do well. This did not discourage Bob. He continued to pursue a career in music and in 1965, he formed a group called ‘The Wailers’ with Bunny Livingstone (later known as Bunny Wailer) and Peter McIntosh (later known as simply Peter Tosh.) Bob acted as front man for the group and wrote most of the group’s material. The trio released ‘Simmer Down,’ ‘Rule Them Rudie’ and ‘ItHurts To Be Alone,’ all of which were hits in Jamaica.

In 1966, Bob Marley married Rita Anderson, his long-term girlfriend. The next day he went to the United States and stayed long enough to gain financing for his next record. The next year Bob and Rita’s first child, Cedella, was born. Soon after, the Marley's set up their own recording label, Wail ‘N Soul ‘M Records, and produced a single, ‘Bend Down Low/Mellow Mood.’ That same year, the record label was ended.

Their next child, David (Ziggy) was born in 1968. The Wailers continued to release singles without producing an album. The band formed another label, Tuff Gong, and finally reached a degree of success. By that time, the Wailers were famous in the Caribbean, but were unknown in the rest of the world.

Finally in 1971, the wailers got a break. Island Records forwarded them 8,000 pounds for the production of a full album. The Wailers were the first reggae band to receive so much money and to have access to the best recording studios. They produced two albums, ‘Catch a Fire’ and ‘Burnin’’, the latter which included ‘Get Up Stand Up’ and ‘I Shot the Sheriff.’ The Wailers began to extensively toured the United States and the United Kingdom and when Eric Claptoncovered ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ the Wailers soared to instant fame.

Soon after their success in the US, the band changed their name to Bob Marley and the Wailers and then released their next album, ‘Natty Dread.’ The album included the hit single ‘No Woman No Cry,’ perhaps their most popular song. Soon after, Bunny and Peter left to pursue solo careers and were replaced by new members. By 1976, reggae fever had swept the United States. Rolling Stone Magazinenamed Bob Marley and the Wailers the ‘Band of the Year’ and ‘Rastaman Vibration’ rose to the top of the charts.

On December 3 of 1976, an assassination attempt was made on Bob Marley, his wife and the managers of the Wailers to keep him fromplaying at the Smile Jamaica concert in Kingston. His concert was scheduled for December 5 after a presidential candidate’s election rally, a presidential candidate who happened to be at odds with the US. Some people believe that the assassination attempt was executed by the US government, for fear that Marley’s performance would sway the vote. Despite receiving two gun shot wounds, Bob Marley performed anyway and then left for the UK.

Bob Marley and the Wailers went on to produce their next album, ‘Exodus,’ in 1977. The release of this album propelled Bob to a international superstar. Later, in May of the same year, Bob found out that he had cancer in his toe. Doctors recommended that he have the toe removed, but Bob refused since this was against his Rastafarian beliefs. In July, the rest of the Exodus tour was canceled.

In 1978, the band released another album, ‘Kaya.’ The group's songswent from protest anthems to love songs about ganja (marijuana), which is highly held by Rastafarians as a way to connect with Jah (God.) In April, Marley returned to Jamaica to perform in the One Love Peace Concert, and later that year he received a Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations. Bob Marley also traveled to Africa for the first time, making stops in Kenya, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.

The band went on touring throughout the US and Europe and produced a few more albums, including ‘Uprising.’ However, in 1980, Marley fell gravely ill. The cancer in his toe had spread upwards through his body and had infected his liver, stomach and brain. In September, Bob nearly fainted during a concert in New York City. The next day he collapsed while jogging in central park through a park and was rushed to the hospital. The doctors revealed that the tumor in his brain had greatly enlarged and that Bob had less than a month to live.

Bob wanted to continue the tour though, and he performed a spectacular show in Pittsburgh on September 22. Rita was not happy with his decision to spend his final days touring though, and the concert was canceled the next day. Bob then went to miami where he was baptized at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church on November 4. Five days later, in a last attempt to save his life, Bob flew to a controversial treatment center in Germany with Rita. Three months later on May 11, 1981, Bob Marley died at the young age of 36.

Bob Marley’s funeral was held in Jamaica on May 21, and hundreds of thousands of people attended, including the Prime Minister of Jamaica. Bob’s body was taken back to his birth place in Nine Miles where it now rests in a mausoleum.

Article by essortment

Monday, September 13, 2010

Bob Marley Family Loses Case Over Hit Records

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