Cameo Clips

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York decided that a dispute between the rights- holder in the band N'Klabe and two former members of the Salsa group should be sent to arbitration. Nulife Entertainment v. Torres, 09 Civ. 1277. NuLife sued Hector Torres and Ricardo Porrata, who had both signed a N'Klabe agreement with NuLife, after the defendants formed the I Love Salsa Orchestra and set up their own music publishing company. A clause in the NuLife/artists agreement stated: “With the exception of any breach by you [the individual defendants] of your exclusivity to Label [NuLife] hereunder, any controversy or dispute arising out of or related to this Agreement or the breach or alleged breach of any provision of this Agreement shall ' be submitted ' to arbitration.”

NuLife's court complaint alleged breach of contract and trademark infringement. (N'Klabe is closely identified by fans with the phrase “I Love Salsa.”) But dismissing NuLife's suit without prejudice, District Judge John G. Koeltl noted: “Nulife claims that the defendants' alleged failure to perform [with N'Klabe in concert], their formation of an independent publishing company, their receipt of income from other music industry sources, and their use of the 'I Love Salsa' name all constitute violations of the defendants' contractual exclusivity obligations to Nulife. In light of the entire Agreement, it is clear that the arbitration clause's exception refers to any potential breach by the defendants' of their exclusive recording services obligations to Nulife. ' However, Nulife does not plead facts showing that the defendants have recorded with any other company or have done anything else to breach Nulife's exclusive entitlement to the defendants' recording services.”