Funk pioneer George Clinton is taking legal action against his former business partner, Armen Boladian, accusing him of fraud and copyright infringement in relation to his music catalog. The lawsuit, filed in Florida federal court, alleges that Boladian and his companies engaged in a long-standing scheme to forge Clinton’s signature on deals that surreptitiously transferred ownership of his music rights to Boladian. As a result, Boladian now reportedly owns approximately 90% of Clinton’s catalog, withholding millions of dollars in royalties from the artist.
Clinton is seeking an immediate court order to prevent Boladian from further exploiting his music rights and is also pursuing unspecified damages. Through the application of copyright law provisions that allow creators to reclaim ownership of their works, Clinton hopes to regain control over his music catalog.
In response to the lawsuit, Boladian’s lawyer, Richard Busch, plans to file a motion to dismiss the claims and seek sanctions against Clinton. Busch argues that this legal battle is part of a long history of lawsuits between Clinton and Boladian, with previous rulings favoring Boladian in similar disputes.
Clinton, known for his work with Funkadelic, Parliament, and the P-Funk All-stars, has consistently maintained that documents transferring ownership of his music were forged. The lawsuit outlines various fraudulent actions allegedly taken by Boladian, including misleading Clinton into signing agreements that granted Boladian ownership rights over his catalog.
Additionally, the lawsuit accuses Boladian of inserting fake songwriters into copyright registrations for Clinton’s songs to manipulate royalties. Boladian is also accused of paying third parties to claim ownership of Clinton’s work to fraudulently withhold royalties from the artist.
Boladian’s companies, including Bridgeport Music, Westbound Records, Nine Records, Southfield Music, and Eastbound Records, are named in the lawsuit as holding companies with copyrights to songs by various artists. These entities are known for filing lawsuits against artists who sample Clinton’s music without proper licenses, yet Clinton claims he has never received payments from these litigations.
Overall, the lawsuit brought forth by George Clinton includes claims of copyright infringement, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and other allegations against Boladian and his companies. Clinton is determined to seek justice and reclaim ownership of his music catalog through legal means.
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