In February, George Clinton, known as "The Godfather of Funk," held a press conference to announce a petition drive aimed at persuading government officials to review the copyright filing process. In a statement, the 71-year-old said that he wants to be remembered for calling attention to the issue of protecting artists’ copyrights. "That’s what I would like my legacy to beto have turned people on to the fact that they need to fight for their rights to their music," Clinton said in his statement.
For Clinton, who has been making records for 54 years and making noise about copyright issues for more than a decadethe latest copyright push comes on the heels of an unusual, possibly precedent-setting federal court order that threatens to sully one of his rare wins on the intellectual property frontand puts him at odds with a law firm that helped secure that victory. In November, U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle ruled that Clinton must cede the copyrights to the master recordings of four Funkadelic albums released by Warner Bros. between 1976 and 1981Hardcore Jollies, One Nation Under a Groove, Uncle Jam Wants You, and The Electric Spanking of War Babiesto Seattle-based Hendricks & Lewis to make good on more than $1.5 million in unpaid legal fees. Hendricks & Lewis, which represented Clinton in various matters between 2005 and 2008, racked up at least some of those bills helping him win control of those copyrights in the first place.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
