The Bittersweet Connection Between Rock Music and the Legal Profession
I must confess that for the past couple of months, I haven’t been able to get that line by Robe Iniesta out of my head—the ill-fated artist who, as a child, was raised to be a wealthy man but who, as an adult, chose to sing:“But now, I’d rather be an Indian / than an important lawyer”(“Ama ama ama y ensancha el alma,” Extremoduro, from*Deltoya*, 1992)
The thing is, the relationship between the world of rock ’n’ roll and the legal profession has always been bittersweet. I remember that George Harrison, fed up with the legal squabbles that the creation of the Apple label brought about among the members of The Beatles —and the plagiarism lawsuit he had to face in the wake of the success of“My Sweet Lord”—wrote that charming song,“The Sue Me, Sue You Blues.” In it, he sang, without mincing words:“Bring your lawyer / And I’ll bring mine / Get together, and we could have a bad time…”. He then capped it off with some rather blunt lyrics:“But in the end we just pay / those lawyers their bills.”
Legal Disputes in Rock Music: Plagiarism and Authorship Disputes
Well, legal disputes in the world of rock come in many different forms: plagiarism among artists, conflicts with managers, clashes with record labels, and disputes among band members. At the heart of any conflict are almost always copyrights—if not trademarks—which, whether we like it or not, determine the financial well-being of any artist.
Musical Plagiarism: A Show Within a Show
The issue of plagiarism—to start somewhere—has become a spectaclewithin the spectaclethat rock carries with it as a hallmark. And no one is safe from facingaccusationsof this nature, amplified by the state-of-the-art loudspeakers that are the media and social media.
Take, for example , the recent cases involving the sacrosanct Rolling Stones, with an alleged lawsuit over the song“Living in a Ghost Town”; or the untouchable Taylor Swift, whose“Actually Romantic”may have been inspired by“Where Is My Mind”by the Pixies, a cult band at the polar opposite of Swift’s musical tastes.
Accusations of plagiarism have dogged iconic bands in connection with some of their most acclaimed anthems: Led Zeppelin (the timeless“Stairway to Heaven”), Radiohead (the hypnotic “Creep”), and Coldplay (the weddingsong—paradoxical as it may seem—“Viva la Vida”).
So much so that a singer-songwriter as iconoclastic as Morrissey, in The Smiths’ song“Cemetery Gates,” issued a stern warning to plagiarists:“If you must write prose-poems / The words you use should be your own / Don’t plagiarize or take “on loan” / Because there’s always someone, / somewhere / With a big nose, who knows / And who trips you up and laughs / When you fall.”
Conflicts Between Artists, Managers, and Record Labels
The back-and-forth between artists and record labels, the music industry, and their managers has become almost a recurring theme over the decades. Paul McCartney was already complaining that they never gave him his money, that they only gave him “your funny paper,” and that“in the middle of negotiations / you break down” (The Beatles,“You Never Give Me Your Money,” from*Abbey Road*, 1969).
Joe Strummer and The Clash—a band as rebellious as they come—denounced the record labels’ abuses right from the start with unmistakable lyrics:“They said we’d be artistically free / When we signed that bit of paper / They meant ‘Let’s make a lot of money / And worry about it later’” ( The Clash, “Complete Control,”single, 1977). And it wasn’t just a pose or a stunt for the cameras: it’s worth remembering that the band forced the record label to sell their most iconic doublealbum,“London Calling,” for the price of a single album, and then imposed the same condition on their triple vinyl album“Sandinista.”
With a touch of nostalgia, the late, beloved Tom Petty expressed his disappointment at some artists’ surrender to the demands of the market in these meaningful verses:“If you reach back in your memory / A little bell might ring / ‘Bout a time that once existed / When money wasn’t king / If you stretch your imagination / I’ll tell you all a tale / About a time when everything / Wasn’t up for sale”(Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,“Money Becomes King,” from*The Last DJ*, 2002)
Controversies can be just as bitter when they involve an artist’s personal relationship with the person to whom they have entrusted the financial management of their rights. It doesn’t matter if you’re a star as respected as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, or Leonard Cohen—at some point, disagreements over that management can surface, destroying long-standing friendships or ruining fortunes amassed over long and arduous careers. And in some cases, the complaint may come from the other side and be based on reasons that border on the esoteric. Take, for example, the news reports about the lawsuit filed against Guns N’ Roses by a former manager over alleged “repeated threats”that are supposedly preventing him from publishing his memoirs under the witty title“Sound N’ Fury: Rock’N’Roll Stories.”
Financial Management of Rights
It’s important to realize that a music creator has to deal, at the very least, with a producer, a music publisher, arecord label, online music platforms, various collecting societies, and concert organizers and venues. Nor should we overlook the relationship with band members when it comes to defining authorship,royalty distributions, or ownership of the brand that gives the group its name . All of this takes place against the backdrop of a constantly evolving regulatory landscape and a technological environment— such as the Information Society and Artificial Intelligence—that is challenging institutions and convictions once considered well-established and unshakable.
Whether to prevent conflict through proper contractual arrangements with various parties, to avoid litigation by reaching agreements when disputes arise, or to ensure a favorable outcome in court should a lawsuit ultimately become necessary, the role of the attorney—like that of intellectual property rights management organizations—becomes indispensable throughout an artist’s career.
Anyway, so we don’t end up with a bad taste in our mouths, let’s go back to Robe and find a little song to wash it all away—one that shatters our souls and tears us apart inside. Even though we know that by tomorrow we might have nothing left and nothing might matter anymore, perhaps it’s true, as the one-of-a-kind artist from Extremadura liked to think,“that the power of art / could very well save us / from a lifeless existence / from a sad life / from a miserable death” (Robe,“El poder del Arte,”from*Se nos lleva el aire*, 2023 ).
To achieve this, it will be essential for art and music to fall under the umbrella of intellectual property, for the artist to be aware of the importance of defending their rights, and for the lawyer to love rock ’n’ roll and know how to stand by the artist through all their storms. And above all… let’s hope the lawyer isn’t the one causing them!
Antonio Castán Pérez-Gómez, Honorary Partner of ELZABURU.