I Will Survive singer Gloria Gaynor and songwriter Robin Randall have sued music producer known as Joel Diamond, alleging that Diamond and his firms improperly claimed rights to their works and didn’t pay royalties owed.
The lawsuit seeks to have Diamond’s contracts between Gaynor and Randall terminated, and seeks at the very least $2 million in damages, royalties owed and authorized charges.
Within the go well with filed in a New York federal court docket on Friday (July 26), Gaynor alleges that she entered right into a contract with Diamond in 1983, and that Diamond has since claimed that this a work-for-hire contract, which means that every one rights to the songs Gaynor created underneath the contract belong to Diamond.
Gaynor denies this, and says she continues to personal all of the rights to the songs she created and carried out.
“Because the inception of the alleged recording settlement, regardless of Gaynor’s repeated requests for an accounting thereof, defendants have didn’t pay any royalties, present transparency as to who Gaynor’s music was licensed to or any demonstration that Gaynor’s music was protected,” states Gaynor’s authorized grievance, which will be learn in full right here.
Based on the grievance, Diamond’s firms declare possession of the grasp recordings and publishing rights for the songs You’re All I Want To Get By, Extra Than Sufficient, I’ve Been Watching You, Bull’s Eye, Try, Chain of Whispers, and Eeny-Meeny-Mack-A-Rack.
Diamond’s firms additionally declare to personal the grasp recording rights to “After the Lovin’” and “I Am What I Am,” and the publishing rights to Solely In A Love Track, in accordance with the grievance.
Joel Diamond is called as a defendant within the lawsuit, as are quite a lot of firms the grievance says are managed by him, together with Joel Diamond Leisure, Silver Blue Productions and Ocean Blue Music.
Becoming a member of the lawsuit as a plaintiff is songwriter Robin Randall, who labored as a crew together with her mom Judithe Randall till the elder Randall’s demise in 2002.
The youthful Randall alleges that, in 2000, Diamond dedicated fraud by convincing the elder Randall to signal over possession rights to the songs written by the duo, at a time when the elder Randall had begun to point out indicators of psychological incapacitation.
“Defendants’ improper dealings have considerably depleted the earnings that plaintiffs would in any other case be entitled to obtain.”
Authorized grievance filed by Gloria Gaynor and Robin Randall
In 2001, the 12 months earlier than her demise, Judithe Randall was admitted to hospital and identified with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar dysfunction.
“Diamond fraudulently induced, and in any other case wrongfully brought about Judithe Randall to signal over her possession rights to many copyrighted works, together with however not restricted to Perpetually Associates, Simply Associates, Shut My Eyes and Two Souls One Breath,” the grievance states.
“The contracts have been fraudulently and wrongfully obtained by inducing an incapacitated individual to signal paperwork whose content material and function she was incapable of understanding, and to execute these paperwork for each herself and her daughter with out her daughter’s data.”
Whereas the a part of the case involving Robin Randall is sophisticated by the problem of her late mom’s psychological well being greater than 20 years in the past, the half involving Gaynor is sophisticated by an obvious lack of documentation.
“The exact dates and nature of the agreements between defendants and plaintiff Gaynor in addition to defendants and third events are at present unknown to Gaynor, as this info is within the sole possession, custody and management of defendants and, though requested by plaintiffs’ representatives, defendants have but to reveal this info to plaintiffs,” the grievance states.
“Regardless of requests, the recording settlement has not been offered to Gaynor… The recording settlement would have required for fee of royalties to Gaynor as author and recording artist.”
The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary obligation, fraud, copyright infringement and unjust enrichment, and asks the court docket for a declaration that the contracts in query are terminated.
Diamond and his firms’ “improper dealings have considerably depleted the earnings that plaintiffs would in any other case be entitled to obtain,” the lawsuit alleges.
The 80-year-old Gaynor is a two-time Grammy winner identified for her hits I Will Survive, Let Me Know (I Have a Proper), I Am What I Am, and a canopy of By no means Can Say Goodbye, amongst others. I Will Survive was inducted into the Library of Congress in 2017.
Based on the grievance, Gaynor continues to tour, showing at varied music festivals.
“The contracts have been fraudulently and wrongfully obtained by inducing an incapacitated individual to signal paperwork whose content material and function she was incapable of understanding, and to execute these paperwork for each herself and her daughter with out her daughter’s data.”
Authorized grievance towards Joel Diamond by Gloria Gaynor and Robin Randall
Robin Randall has been a songwriter, recording artist and music trainer for greater than 45 years, whose listing of credit contains the hit “Tomorrow Doesn’t Matter Tonight” by Starship, “The place Are You Now?” by Roxus and “Final Time” by Agnetha Faltskog.
She has additionally written music for TV reveals together with Baywatch, Beginning Over, Robust Love, Confessions of a Teen Idol, and The Amy Fisher Story.
Based on the web site of Silver Blue Productions, Joel Diamond is a two-time Grammy nominee who has produced 47 Gold and Platinum-certified recordings, and has had greater than 100 Billboard-charting data.
The web site says he has “held senior positions in each government and inventive capacities for main music firms, together with Sony.”
Diamond isn’t the one one who stands accused of improperly exploiting Gloria Gaynor’s work. Final month, recording firms owned by the worldwide majors, Sony Music Group, Common Music Group and Warner Music Group, sued AI music firm Suno, alleging that the AI’s builders used copyrighted music with out permission to construct their on the spot music generator.
Based on a forensic evaluation by AI music specialist Ed Newton-Rex, Gaynor’s I Will Survive might be one of many tracks on which Suno was illicitly skilled.Music Enterprise Worldwide
