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The wife and publishing house of Jacques Levy, who co-wrote several songs on Bob Dylan’s 1976 album Desire, are suing the songwriter for $ 7.25 million ($ 5.25 million pounds sterling) following the recent sale of Dylan’s songwriting catalog to Universal Music. The deal was reportedly valued at $ 300million (£ 217.3million).
Levy’s lawsuit claims that Dylan owes Levy’s family 35% of the income from the long narrative songs he co-wrote for Desire – Hurricane, Isis, Mozambique; Oh, sister; Joey, Romance in Durango and Black Diamond Bay – and said Dylan’s associates “refused to hand over to [Levy’s family] their fair share of revenues and / or revenues from catalog sales compared to compositions ”.
Dylan’s attorney, Orin Snyder, told Pitchfork that the lawsuit was “a sad attempt to take unfair advantage of the recent catalog sale. The complainants were paid all they were owed. We are confident that we will succeed. And when we do, we will hold the plaintiffs and their lawyers accountable for this baseless case. “
Hear Mozambique from Desire
Dylan met Levy in the spring of 1974. They met the following year, beginning their collaboration with the song Isis. After periodic writing sessions, they completed work on Desire during a three-week stint in the Hamptons in New York City. Released in January 1976, the album met with mixed reception.
The sale of Dylan’s catalog to Universal is considered the biggest acquisition of the writing rights of a single songwriter. The sale came amid a flurry of high profile artists selling or partially selling the rights to their songs, including Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and Shakira.
Many artists have sold their catalog to Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a UK investment firm owned by Merck Mercuriadis. Industry analysts say older, legacy artist catalogs provide a stable and reliable investment, and for artists in their later years, it may be easier to leave a lump sum to their heirs than a writing domain. .
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