Singer Rick James' Estate Hit With Federal Lawsuit By Three Musicians Who Claim They Were Stiffed Royalties From 1980 Hit
Feb. 9 2023, Published 12:30 p.m. ET
Rick James' estate has been slapped with a federal lawsuit by three musicians who claim they are owed a substantial amount of money, Radaronline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Leroy O’Neil Jackson Jr, James Calloway, and the administrator of Aaron “Sonny” T. Davenport’s estate have filed a lawsuit against Universal Music and Ty James, the executor of the estate of Rick James.
The suit accused the defendants of breach of contract and copyright infringement.
The lawsuit alleged that in 1979, Jackson, Calloway, and Davenport created three demos at Blank Tapes Studios. At the studio, the trip wrote and recorded the song “Big Time.”
Later that night, the trio met up with music execs and James where they played him the demo. The songwriters said James “expressed he was impressed with the song and said it would be perfect for his upcoming fourth album to be released with the Gordy and Motown Record label. Mr. James asked Mr. Adams to help them work out the details to ensure that “Big Time” was on Mr. James’ album titled Garden of Love.”
James worked out an unusual deal with the songwriters where he was to receive 100% of the publishing royalties and rights for the first five years. After the time period, the rights were to be reverted to the trio.
The song was released in 1980 with the songwriters listed as composers. Back in 1984, the trio had to take action against Motown records and James’ production company to receive royalties from the song. The case settled and the songwriters were awarded about $4,000 after legal fees, the suit claims.
However, the musicians said the record label continued to not pay them correctly in the years following.
“Since in or around 1990, Plaintiffs have made efforts to engage legal counsel to assist them with the collection of unpaid mechanical writers’ royalties only to be turned away by attorneys unwilling to represent Plaintiffs on a contingency fee basis,” the suit explained. “Finally, in or around 2020, Plaintiffs engaged attorney Charles Matlock from Chicago, Illinois, to assist them with the collection of unpaid mechanical writers’ royalties.”
The songwriters said they registered their song in 2020 with the U.S. Copyright Office. Since then, they say James’ estate has released a documentary and soundtrack featuring their song.
“Despite requests from Plaintiffs to Defendants, Plaintiffs have never received a single accounting statement nor payment for mechanical royalties for “Big Time” from Defendants. Defendants nevertheless continue to distribute and exploit the composition by releasing and distributing digital and physical phonorecords of Plaintiffs’ copyrighted work and are liable for intentional copyright infringement,” the suit reads.
The suit demands a temporary injunction against James’ estate from continuing to profit off their work and for unspecified damages.