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Co-Writer Files Royalties Suit Against Iglesias
The title of Julio Iglesias's hit song “Me Olvide de Vivir” translates to “I Had Forgotten to Live.” But a Miami songwriter's copyright infringement lawsuit suggests the only thing the famed crooner “forgot” was to pay his collaborator. Mimi Korman filed suit in federal court in Miami, alleging Iglesias approached her in 1978 to write Spanish lyrics to his now-famous song. Korman v. Iglesias, 1:2018cv21028.
Iglesias, 74, a Grammy winner and one of the world's best-selling artists, rose to international fame in the 1970s and 1980s. His litany of hits include “To All the Girls I've Loved Before,” recorded with country music superstar Willie Nelson and “My Love” with R&B legend Stevie Wonder.
The song at the center of Korman's suit once belonged to a French performer. Korman alleges she helped Iglesias make it his own after he acquired the rights to create a Spanish version. Korman alleges she was co-author with Iglesias, and gave him the rights to the lyrics in exchange for a percentage of the royalties once he produced and distributed the song. She alleged they had a contract and that Iglesias credited her on album releases for decades — but never paid any royalties.
Korman claims she signed a contract in 1978 but did not retain a copy “She relies on Julio,” said one of Korman's attorneys, D. Fernando Bobadilla, who has teamed with attorney Marcella S. Roukas for the litigation. “His lawyers never provide her with a contract. He never performs on the contract, and she never gets a cent.”
“This was not a work made for hire,” Bobadilla said. Korman “never agreed to that. She never ceded any rights to her authorship. My client owns the lyrics.”
This lawsuit is Korman's third attempt to collect royalties on the nearly 40-year-old song. A 1990 suit against Iglesias in federal court failed in part because the statute of limitations had expired; and a state court action is pending in the Miami-Dade Circuit.
“My client … seems to be out of luck for something that Julio Iglesias does not dispute,” Bobadilla said. “He doesn't dispute that she authored the lyrics. He doesn't dispute that he didn't pay her anything. But because she didn't sue him early enough, he got away with it.”
At press time, no attorney had entered an appearance for Iglesias in the new suit. Steven E. Eisenberg, a Coral Gables attorney, represents the singer in the state court action.
Both previous actions made similar allegations of fraud in the inducement, civil theft and have asked the court for a constructive trust to collect the royalties.
Korman never raised copyright infringement claims until now — partly because before the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., 134 S.C. 1962 (2014), plaintiffs had a three-year window in which to bring infringement claims. This changed when the high court reset the clock by ruling, “In short, each infringing act starts a new limitations period.
Korman's new suit allows her to look back three years for alleged infringements. Her lawyers argue federal law entitles her to several remedies, including all profits. She could also collect statutory damages of up to $150,000 for intentional violations. “My client alleges intentional infringement,” Bobadilla said.
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Samantha Joseph is reporter for The Daily Business Review, the Miami, FL-based ALM sibling of Entertainment Law & Finance.
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