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Kanye life of pablo transparent png11/15/2022 ![]() While they may not be immediately fruitful, West’s actions have already inspired other musicians and producers to speak out on their own inequitable business experiences in the music industry. “There is certainly an argument to be made that he waived his attorney-client privilege, at least to some extent, which could possibly open the door for problems if he happens to get into a legal battle.” Hochberg points out that the release of a 2019 legal memo by West’s then-lawyers, which lays out how his contract terms involving advances, royalties, and distribution fees have evolved since 2011, could also be used against the rapper in court. “Meaning that if they did bring a legal claim, when you get into discovery and evidence, there’s a very good chance that those previously confidential communications are going to now come into evidence.” “ did destroy attorney-client privilege, at least as to that conversation with his attorney,” says Kevin Casini, a Connecticut-based entertainment attorney and adjunct law professor. It is possible that West also made a tactical error by posting a screenshot of a text thread between himself and an unnamed lawyer on September 15, in which the lawyer floats the idea of claiming that it was actually UMG that breached the contract by not supporting West enough, and presents the option of entering into litigation as a way to reacquire his masters. I can’t think of a way that he gets out of this deal, unless-in terms of public relations-he pressures them enough that they let him out. ![]() “He tried this with EMI and it didn’t work out. “The only thing he gains is that he probably has a lot of record executives either scratching their heads or banging them against the walls right now,” Hochberg says, before citing West’s previous legal squabble with publishing company EMI, which ended with an undisclosed settlement earlier this year. Music attorney Bill Hochberg-who’s previously represented Fifth Harmony, as well as the Curtis Mayfield and Bob Marley estates-says he doesn’t see how sharing the documents actually aids West in his fight for independence from UMG. But the manner in which he did it, and choosing his own contract as the example, is really where I think his message has gotten diluted.” “On the one hand, he’s pointing the finger at an industry in which the balance of power has been dramatically skewed in favor of the label as opposed to the artist-there’s no question about that. “With all due respect-and full recognition that many recording agreements are opaque at best and egregious at worst-this is not the worst I’ve ever seen,” she says. She also asserts that nothing from West’s contracts struck her as out of the ordinary for an artist of his stature. For Pablo, he was advanced $6 million, with $3 million for recording costs.)Īccording to music copyright lawyer Lisa Alter, a substantial amount of negotiating power is required to get such a reversion clause into a major-label contract. (Other documents reveal that West received a $12 million advance for Yeezus, with $4 million allocated for recording costs. And, in a couple of instances, he may be able to reclaim his masters a little bit sooner: Among the leaked documents is a 2012 profit-share agreement that contains something called a reversion clause, which states the rights for Yeezus and The Life of Pablo will revert to West just 20 years after each release-in 20, respectively-as long as he has recouped the recording costs by that time. (Though, as a major-label executive admitted to Billboard in 2017, “We are not in the business of giving our masters back to artists.”) West doesn’t want to wait that long. This means that West could legally start trying to win ownership of the masters of his solo albums, beginning with The College Dropout, in 2039. ![]() Under the rules laid out in the 1976 Copyright Act, artists can reclaim their master recordings from a label 35 years after a given record’s release. ![]()
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