Morris County Music Producer's $7.3M Payment to Lada Gaga Scout Upheld by Judge

Nearly three months after a court decision was reached between a Parsippany record producer and the songwriter credited with finding Lady Gaga, a federal judge upheld the $7.3 million award owed from one former partner to the other.

According to nj.com, U.S. District Court Judge Jose Linares, in an 11-page decision Thursday, disputed claims from producer Rob Fusari’s attorneys saying the $7.3 million award was too high.

Fusari and songwriter Wendy Starland had an agreement in 2006 when they sought out the “next big thing,” and would split the career profits evenly for Stephanie Germanotta, now known as Lady Gaga.

It was Germanotta, five years later and after she and Fusari stopped working together, who bolstered Starland’s claims of not being paid by the Parsippany producer when she said in a 2011 pre-trial deposition she was aware the two had a verbal agreement to share profits from Gaga’s career.

Fusari’s attorney claimed the award should be decreased because of Starland’s breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty claims, the report said.

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