Bit Parts

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee ruled that country music artist Rissi Palmer didn't file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to in bad faith avoid a debt for recoupable monies advanced to her by 1720 Entertainment. In re Palmer, 09-01890. Palmer had signed management, recording and songwriting/co-publishing agreements with 1720. Denying 1720's motion to dismiss Palmer's bankruptcy filing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge George C. Paine II noted that Palmer's “testimony was truthful that she felt like she would be in indefinite servitude to 1720 owing more than $2.7 million in recoupment advances following only marginal success of her first album; her medical bills were in collection; the loan [from Suntrust Bank to settle with Palmer's previous manager] was in default; she was facing eviction from her apartment, and she was struggling to pay her car note and car insurance, and other living expenses. This was a debtor in need of a fresh start, not a debtor acting in bad faith trying to escape 1720 to make [a] break into stardom by another route.” The bankruptcy court added in a footnote that Palmer “is perhaps less well known than [country music artist] Mindy McCready was at the time this court denied a motion to dismiss her case. While the court makes no claim to being prescient, Ms. McCready's career has been in a tailspin ever since her bankruptcy.”

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