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Bob Dylan was hit by a lawsuit filed by the estate of songwriter Jacques Levy on Wednesday, January 20, demanding a reduction in the proceeds from the sale of his catalog to Universal Music Group last month.
The buyout, made through Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), included over 600 copyrights spanning 60 years, from 1962 Blow in the wind until Dylan’s release in 2020, The most offensive murder.
Universal has not disclosed the price of the deal, but industry expert sources told MBW in December that Dylan’s catalog would cost somewhere between $ 300 million and $ 400 million.
UMG is also named in the costume.
Levy is described in the lawsuit as “a renowned avant-garde songwriter and director,” who wrote songs for Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Joe Cocker and others.
He has collaborated with Dylan on 10 compositions including Romance in Durango, Catfish, Joey, Silver Blues, hurricane, Rita mae, Mozambique, Oh sister, Black Diamond Bay a bedtime story and Isis.
Seven of these songs were recorded and released by Dylan on his 1976 album Desire.
The claim then alleges that, pursuant to a contract with Dylan, which they entered into “on or about July 28, 1975”, Levy is liable for 35% “of any income earned by the compositions and actually received”.
It adds that prior to closing the sale, Universal “performed due diligence on the catalog sale and was aware of the existence of the agreement and its exact terms.”
The lawsuit suggests that, based on estimates of 600 songs in the catalog at a selling price of $ 300 million, the price per song is around $ 500,000 with a total price of around $ 5 million for the 10 compositions.
Levy’s estate therefore argues that at 35% of $ 5 million, its share of the sale is $ 1.75 million “or more.”
“The violations of the Dylan defendants have been accompanied by such historical and repeated malice and abuse as to demonstrate a high degree of moral culpability.
Domaine Jacques Levy
Further, the lawsuit argues that “the violations of the Dylan defendants were accompanied by such historical and repeated malice and abuse that they testify to a high degree of moral culpability.”
As a result, Levy’s estate argues that it should be awarded $ 2 million in punitive damages “to deter similar conduct from occurring in the future and to punish the Dylan defendants for their faults and breaches of contract. “.
He adds: “The behavior of the accused Dylan demonstrates reprehensible motives involving a criminal indifference to civil obligations”.
Including the $ 2 million for punitive damages, the total compensation claimed by Levy’s estate is $ 7.25 million: $ 1.75 million for breach of contract against the “Dylan Defendants”, 1 , $ 75 million for breach of contract against the “Universal Defendants” and an additional $ 1.75 million. for “tortious interference with the contract” against the “universal defendants”.
Elsewhere in the lawsuit, which you can read in full here, Levy’s estate contends that “the songwriter’s legacy has continually been diminished and hidden by Dylan’s defendants since JL’s first collaborations with Dylan.”
Levy was hired to lead Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1975, according to the costume, “but was never included in the Rolling Thunder Revue program or posters”, nor has he been identified as director or songwriter in the 2019 film Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese.
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