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Ellington Heirs Lose Bid to Change Foreign Royalties Calculations
The New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, decided that a copyright renewal that Duke Ellington signed in 1961 didn't unfairly deprive his heirs of a portion of foreign royalties on the music giant's works, such as “Mood Indigo” and “Sophisticated Lady.”
In Ellington v. EMI Music, 156, the court of appeals ruled 5-2 that “clear and unambiguous” provisions govern EMI's obligations to Ellington's grandson Paul Ellington and the composer's other survivors. Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam, writing for the majority, said a plain reading of the contract says Ellington or his heirs are entitled to 50% of the net revenues received from the composer's works from foreign subpublishers. The agreement was originally signed by Ellington and Mills Music Inc., which has become EMI.
The fact that EMI has come to use affiliated foreign subpublishers in an arrangement that allows the publisher to reduce the amount of royalties that must be turned over to the Ellington family on foreign sales, a development not contemplated in 1961, doesn't directly violate any terms of the 1961 contract, Judge Abdus-Salaam wrote. According to the judge, “EMI's corporate reconfiguration did not ' 'avoid the understanding of the parties.' Rather, the parties merely did not account for the possibility that the publisher would eventually affiliate with foreign subpublishers.”
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