I Will Survive singer Gloria Gaynor and songwriter Robin Randall have sued music producer referred to as Joel Diamond, alleging that Diamond and his corporations 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 not less than $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 each 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.
In line with the grievance, Diamond’s corporations 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 corporations 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 Music, in accordance with the grievance.
Joel Diamond is known as as a defendant within the lawsuit, as are various corporations 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 dying 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 yr earlier than her dying, Judithe Randall was admitted to hospital and recognized with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar dysfunction.
“Diamond fraudulently induced, and in any other case wrongfully induced Judithe Randall to signal over her possession rights to many copyrighted works, together with however not restricted to Perpetually Mates, Simply Mates, Shut My Eyes and Two Souls One Breath,” the grievance states.
“The contracts have been fraudulently and wrongfully obtained by inducing an incapacitated particular person to signal paperwork whose content material and goal 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 difficulty of her late mom’s psychological well being greater than twenty 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 presently 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 cost 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 corporations’ “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 recognized 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.
In line with the grievance, Gaynor continues to tour, showing at varied music festivals.
“The contracts have been fraudulently and wrongfully obtained by inducing an incapacitated particular person to signal paperwork whose content material and goal 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 instructor for greater than 45 years, whose record of credit consists of 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 exhibits together with Baywatch, Beginning Over, Powerful Love, Confessions of a Teen Idol, and The Amy Fisher Story.
In line with 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 govt and artistic capacities for main music corporations, together with Sony.”
Diamond isn’t the one one who stands accused of improperly exploiting Gloria Gaynor’s work. Final month, recording corporations 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.
In line with 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 educated.Music Enterprise Worldwide
