For the previous six months, Burton Cummings, founding singer and songwriter of basic rock workforce the Bet Who, has been in a sour prison dispute to wrest keep watch over of his previous band’s legacy. Now he’s adopting an competitive and somewhat unprecedented option to make that occur: giving up on positive royalties so the band can’t play his songs.
As Rolling Stone in the past reported, Cummings and authentic Bet Who guitarist Randy Bachman sued the present iteration of the Bet Who (in addition to the band’s authentic drummer and bass participant Garry Peterson and Jim Kale) final October, alleging that the gang that recently holds the Bet Who trademark is “a canopy band” the usage of the unique workforce’s recording in advertisements “as a way to spice up the Duvet Band’s price tag gross sales for are living performances and to present the misconception that Plaintiffs are appearing.”
That case remains to be ongoing, and a federal pass judgement on denied the band’s movement to push aside the founders’ go well with previous this week. However because the go well with continues, Cummings has taken a nuclear motion, terminating the appearing rights agreements for the entire Bet Who songs he wrote, putting off the copyright protections that permit the band (or any individual else) to accomplish hits like “American Girl,” “Those Eyes,” and “No Time” at a live performance. In impact, he shot himself within the foot to take a look at to shoot the band within the face.
“I’m prepared to do anything else to prevent the faux band; they’re taking [Bachman and my] lifestyles tale and pretending it’s theirs,” Cummings tells Rolling Stone. “They’re now not the individuals who made those data, they usually shouldn’t act like they did. This doesn’t prevent this cap band from enjoying their displays, it simply stops them from enjoying the songs I wrote. If the songs are carried out by way of the faux Bet Who, they are going to be sued for each prevalence.”
Cummings’ technique is each very competitive and specifically uncommon. Two song lawyers and not using a association to the case inform Rolling Stone they’d by no means observed this sort of technique ahead of. Cummings’ legal professional Helen Yu spent a number of months running to get the license correctly terminated. She provides that a part of why it’s so unprecedented for artists to believe this sort of technique is that continuously, writers don’t personal the publishing, which is needed to drag each ends of the license.
“Now not numerous artists are each the author and the writer on their songs, and Burton Cummings thankfully is, so it is a very uncommon case the place the artist can take this motion,” Yu says. “And I feel this example displays the direct nexus between their false promoting and who they are saying they’re.”
The transfer is curious about agreements set via teams referred to as appearing rights organizations (PROs). The termination goals the entire venues the band would play. Virtually each live performance venue within the nation has blanket agreements with quite a lot of PROs comparable to BMI and ASCAP, who accumulate royalties on behalf of songwriters for the general public performances in their works. If a venue has licensing agreements in position, the venues’ artists are unfastened to hide any music from the PROs’ repertory.
But if Cummings and his publishing corporate Shillelagh Tune terminated their efficiency settlement with their PRO, they got rid of the venues’ permission to deal with any performances of the songs Cummings wrote. Cummings’ recommend despatched a observe to the band’s legal professionals previous this week explaining that as of April 1, “not one of the venues wherein The Duvet Band is recently scheduled to Carry out possess the considered necessary license had to publicly carry out” Cummings’ songs, and that “Must the person individuals of the Duvet Band publicly carry out any of Shillelagh Tune’s Compositions, Shillelagh Tune intends to institute prison motion to offer protection to its copyright pursuits.”
The tactic, to the gang’s chagrin, appears to be running, a minimum of for now. Two displays have been canceled over the weekend, with the Barbara B. Mann Appearing Arts Corridor in Cyprus Lake, Florida, saying that the display used to be canceled “because of an unexpected factor with the song licensing.” The Daybreak Theatre in Citadel Pierce, Florida, in a similar way made a last-minute cancellation Wednesday night time, additionally bringing up the licensing dispute.
Via Thursday morning, the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville, the Saenger Theatre in Cellular, Alabama, and the Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Seashore, Florida — who would’ve hosted the Bet Who’s subsequent 3 displays — introduced cancellations as neatly. Tickets for displays past the ones dates stay on sale as of this text’s e-newsletter.
An legal professional for the Bet Who didn’t reply to Rolling Stone’s request for remark in regards to the displays. In December, the band took to social media calling Cummings’ and Bachman’s go well with “meritless.” In a memorandum, the band argued that “there is not any dispute that Defendants lawfully personal ‘The Bet Who’ trademark,” and that Shoppers who see an advert for a live performance by way of the Bet Who would now not fairly think that Bachman and Cummings are appearing simply as a result of they have been within the band a few years in the past.”
Assuming the gang does play the classic-era songs at their upcoming displays, each the band and the venue they performed at may well be at the hook for prison recourse, Cummings and his workforce inform Rolling Stone.
However like maximum nuclear choices, Cummings’ technique doesn’t come with out the danger of a few mutually confident destruction. Whilst terminating the rights complicates the present Bet Who’s performances, it might also considerably hit Cummings’ personal profits. Except running with live performance venues, PROs additionally accumulate royalties from when songs are performed at the radio, on TV displays, or even if they’re performed within the background at eating places or buying groceries shops. With the license terminated, Cummings will most likely lose out on seeing the ones royalty bills. And that’s now not simply at the variations he recorded, however on covers comparable to Lenny Kravitz’s Grammy-winning “American Girl” quilt.
However Cummings is hoping that what might quantity to a flesh wound for him can be a mortal damage for the gang he says is tarnishing his legacy. “Sure, I’m going to lose some cash, however we’re going to determine what’s price what. I will be able to now not have this faux band happening any more,” Cummings says. “I’m going to lose some cash, however … the title is nugatory with out the ones songs. So what are they going to do? ‘Howdy, the Bet Who Is enjoying however we will’t do “Percentage The Land” or “American Girl,” we will’t do “Those Eyes.”’ No person’s gonna be there.”
The termination is the newest construction in a decadeslong dispute that bubbled over with final 12 months’s lawsuit. The combat started when the band’s authentic bassist, Jim Kale, received the trademark to the Bet Who title in 1986, because the band hadn’t secured the trademark ahead of then. From then on, Kale had arranged a number of excursions the usage of the Bet Who title that includes a closely rotating lineup.
Via the overdue Eighties, the Bet Who’s authentic drummer, Garry Peterson, joined the band as neatly. Kale retired in 2016, leaving Peterson as the one authentic member left. However he doesn’t play each display, Bachman and Cummings alleged, which means some displays function no authentic individuals in their band.
Since Cummings filed the go well with, he says that the band had got rid of his get admission to to the Bet Who’s Spotify for Artists web page. (When the go well with filed final fall, the band’s Spotify web page confirmed an image of the present Bet Who lineup, however as of e-newsletter, it’s now an image of the previous band.)
Cummings additionally tells Rolling Stone that inside the previous month, the band’s legal professionals stated they’d “sue me if I ever even say I used to be ever within the Bet Who.” “You understand how ridiculous that is? What subsequent, can I now not say I used to be born and raised in Winnipeg? That I’m Canadian?”
Cummings didn’t specify how a lot he expects to lose by way of foregoing the efficiency royalties, nor did he say how a lot of a loss he’s prepared to take. However he turns out prepared to journey it out for the foreseeable long term to take a look at and power the band to prevent.
“How a lot is my lifestyles’s paintings price? You’ll’t put it in greenbacks and cents,” he says. “It’s fallacious what they’ve accomplished and for years, no person did anything else about it. However we’re doing one thing now, and this will likely set some precedents as a result of there are different acts available in the market that aren’t actual both.
“That is about far more than simply cash, I wouldn’t have pulled the catalog if it wasn’t,” Cummings provides. “That is concerning the legacy of the songs and the truth that the duvet band is doing anything else they may be able to to erase me and Bachman from the historical past of the gang. I see commercials for his or her displays, and it’s me making a song ‘American Girl.’ What they’re doing is fraud as a result of they’re the usage of actual songs from the true guys to push their faux band. I’m protective the title of The Bet Who, I’m making an attempt to offer protection to what we did.”
