Case Studies

Image via Rolling Stone

  • One of the most dramatic examples of the importance of seeking professional legal advice from the beginning, is found in the history of one of my favourite bands of all time - the Stone Roses. 

    After the release of their seminal debut album, the Roses became mired in a lengthy and protracted legal battle. They had initially signed a long and exclusive recording contract with Silvertone records. As time went on, they realised that the Silvertone deal was signed on terms which were extremely unfair to the band. In light of their increasing popularity, Geffen records had become eager to sign the Roses to record their second album, helping extricate them from the Silvertone deal. But Silvertone were determined to prevent this, filing for a legal injunction to stop the Roses from recording any music at all. They wanted the Roses to be forced to continue with them, against their will, and under a terrible deal. 

    Thankfully the courts eventually sided with the band in the end, deeming Silvertone’s shenanigans unenforceable as a restraint of trade. But all of these issues could have been totally avoided if the Roses had received proper legal advice from the beginning.

Image via Rolling Stone

  • A further sobering example hails from another great English band, the Verve. ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’, from the band’s classic 1997 album Urban Hymns, is probably Richard Ashcroft’s most famous and beloved song. But for many years he only saw a small fraction of the huge royalties it generated since its 1997 release. 

    In my view, the problems all stem from Mr Ashcroft being poorly advised and represented. The issue arose because the recognisable string motif which underpins the song was not fully ‘cleared’ before being released. The four seconds were sampled from an orchestral recording of the Rolling Stones song ‘The Last Time’. Clearance had been obtained for the orchestral version of the song, but not from the Rolling Stones in relation to the original version. (The irony here is that the Rolling Stones song itself has an identical chorus to a gospel song recorded in 1954 by the Staple Singers!)

    If you listen to the Rolling Stones and Verve songs, they sound absolutely nothing like each other. However, Rolling Stones’ manager Allen Klein, argued that the Verve was infringing the Stones’ copyright. Eventually, in an out of court settlement, Mr Ashcroft agreed to relinquish the song’s royalties and credit Mick and Keith as co-songwriters. 

    If Mr Ashcroft had been properly advised, he should never have agreed to that settlement. The song was already a huge hit and he should have avoided signing over the royalties at all costs. More to the point, Mr Klein’s augment had no merit anyway! There is clearly no copyright infringement of the original Stones song. 

    Fortunately, in 2019 (after Mr Klein had passed away), Mick and Keith finally did the right thing and signed all rights over to Ashcroft. But if he had been properly advised all the way along, he would not have missed out on 22 years of royalties for one of the UK’s biggest ever songs. That error likely cost him multiple millions of pounds...