Appeals Panel Pushes Forward Music Lawsuit

Written by City News Service

A federal appeals panel in Pasadena ruled Wednesday that a previously dismissed lawsuit over rights to early recordings by Bob Marley and the Wailers can go forward.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Universal Music Group must show that it did not attempt to block a music production company from distributing remixes of 16 Marley songs licensed from a third company.

Universal Music initially won dismissal in Los Angeles federal court of claims brought by Rock River Communications that the music giant interfered with a 2006 contract with San Juan Music Group to create an album titled "Roots, Rock, Remixed."

Rock River claimed it legally licensed the tracks, recorded by producer Lee Perry between 1969 and 1972, before Marley signed with Universal-owned Island Records, from New Jersey-based San Juan Music.

The circuit court noted that when Marley recorded in Jamaica in those years, "record keeping was not a primary concern" and there has been "confusion in the marketplace as to which entities own licensing rights for these recordings" for decades.

The panel ruled that Universal Music cannot obtain summary judgment "based on the holes in Rock River's claim to a valid license when the validity of UMG's own licensing rights is equally spotty."

According to the suit, after the remix album was completed, Universal Music objected, claiming exclusive rights to the same recordings and asking Apple to remove the tracks from iTunes. Rock River also alleged that Universal threatened to sue Relativity Media if one of the mixes was used in its 2010 film "Dear John."

The appeals court remanded the case back to the lower court for trial.