While we wait for the judges decision I thought Id give you an idea of how it felt to be there … win or lose its far from over Caswell V SONY … The Songwriter’s Perspective I sat with Marian for 2 days in the NSW Supreme Court listening to the learned gentlemen debating the rest of my life. I kept waiting for someone to speak English as if it was their first language, I kept waiting for some semblance of logic to be applied, I kept expecting even the most rudimentary knowledge of music or songwriting to be expressed, I expected Sony ATV CEO (and main protagonist in my case) Damien Trotter to be called and I kept waiting for someone to say “Why the f#$@k are we arguing over whether they had the right to exercise their discretion in not suing their parent company … they were never going to and in the USA … weren’t allowed to. When the judge, on being informed that Teddy Gentry from Alabama would not be required for a video link, expressed his disappointment that he would be unable to meet him, my first reaction was “Can he really say that?” my second was “I think we’re screwed” Here is my layman/songwriter’s view on how I heard Sony’s defence and my questions as to how it was conducted … 1. The non-appearance of Damien Trotter: On the surface, this may appear to be an exercise in gutlessness … a more charitable view may be that he would probably been more use to our case than theirs. 2. The musicologist report: This bit was very confusing for me. The Judge stated that he didn’t know what a musicologist was … the defence lawyer said he didn’t either (a biologist is an expert in biology… maybe a musicologist is an expert in music, or am I being simplistic). Having decided that he had no idea on the subject the defence lawyer proceeded to tell us that the second musicologist report was better … it made me wonder how many reports they commissioned before they got one they liked. A musicologist concerns himself only with details of the music not the law, in much the same way as a lawyer is concerned with the law not the music … the fact that the second musicologist was American and had a better grasp on American law, would seem to me to be irrelevant. Either way, the defence went out of its way to denigrate their original musicologist despite having selected him because of his qualifications and the fact that they had used him before … I told you it was confusing. 3. The assertion that I was not signed to Sony for a period of 4 years: As Sony are suggesting, as part of their defence, that I was not signed to them for a period of 4 years from when ATV Northern Songs was de registered to when I became part of the Sony ATV family and therefore not subject to their protection, I would say … they lost my contract with ATV so have no proof I was ever signed, they admit I was not signed with them for 4 years and I never signed with Sony ATV … can I have my songs back please? 4. The Publisher undertakes at its discretion to institute and prosecute any necessary and demand proceedings claim and demand … : Sony came by this clause from a song assignment accidently found amongst a pile of papers belonging to my brother. The fact of the matter is that the clause was from an agreement belonging to other songs. My lawyers agreed to its acceptance as they felt it was irrelevant as Sony were never going to sue themselves. Sony’s legal team, however, clung to the “ … at its discretion” part like limpets on the bottom of a boat. They have based their entire case on it … the fact is that On The Inside was written 2 days after I signed the contract, when ATV Northern songs didn’t even own a cassette player … The magic clause may, or may not have been in the contract I signed (Sony lost the contract) … and this conjecture is at the heart of their whole case. The surreal nature of what occurred in court was not lost on me … to a lawyer the aforementioned might appear to be a strong legal argument … to a songwriter it would be considered a complete crock and way too unrealistic for the average listener to believe … songwriters deal in emotion and the truth … lawyers apparently rely on lack of emotion and the letter of the law … I chose the right career.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 01:54:09 +0000
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