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Decision of Note: <b>Suit Over Photos Of Blues Legend Will Go To Trial</b>
The Supreme Court of Mississippi ruled that the heirs of the half-sister of blues musician Robert Johnson may proceed with their suit for ownership of the only two photographs of the legendary artist. Anderson v. LaVere, 2002-CA-00098-SCT.
Carrie Thompson, Johnson's half-sister, had collected the photos of Johnson. But a Mississippi circuit court dismissed for res judicata a suit over the photos by Thompson's half-sister and grandson on the ground that the heirs could have petitioned a state chancery court on the issue in an earlier proceeding that determined who was Johnson's biological son and heir.
Johnson died penniless and intestate in 1938. Thompson signed a contract in 1974 with music historian Stephen LaVere, a defendant in the current action, for use of the photos in exchange for 50% of the monies earned. Thompson died in 1983. In 1990, CBS Records (now owned by defendant Sony Music Entertainment) released Johnson's recordings. The album package included the photos.
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