Sony Music Entertainment (SME) has formally abandoned a lawsuit alleging missing payments against the production companies behind a Whitney Houston biography.
The major label only recently moved to dismiss the action with prejudice, approximately nine months after initially filing the uncomplicated complaint. In a nutshell, as we noted at the time, SME particularly targeted the production companies behind 2022’s Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
(The initial suit identified some of the defendant corporations’ individual producers by name, but avoided explicitly or indirectly referencing Clive Davis’ producing credit on the 146-minute release. Actor Stanley Tucci played a character based on Davis.
READ MORE: Whitney Houston’s Mother, Cissy Houston, Has Died At The Age Of 91
In summary, those firms allegedly signed sync agreements to include 24 Houston tracks (some of which were later licensed to Duolingo early this year) in the film. The plaintiffs suppressed the financial details of the pacts, but considering the nature of the litigation and the size of the collection of commercially prominent works involved, the bill was likely large.
In any case, several twists and turns, and futile communications later, the defendants allegedly failed to pay up the requisite cash by (and after) a deadline in 2023, according to the filing parties. (I Wanna Dance With Somebody reportedly grossed $59.4 million on a $45 million budget.)
While it is unknown how Sony Music and the production-house defendants settled the disagreement, the legal fight is now behind them.
READ MORE: Whitney Houston’s ‘I Go To The Rock’ Tops Billboard’s Gospel Albums Chart
According to the initially emphasized dismissal motion, SME has dropped the lawsuit with prejudice, however without disclosing potential settlement terms or other supplemental details.
Unsurprisingly, despite the settlement of this copyright case and Ed Sheeran’s triumph in a marathon complaint regarding “Thinking Out Loud,” the stack of industry and industry-related litigation has grown slightly during November’s first 19 days.
Most notably, this stack includes Universal Music Group’s half-billion-dollar copyright complaint against Believe and TuneCore for alleged “rampant piracy” in sending copyrighted songs to DSPs.
A peculiar showdown is also occurring, centered on an alleged unlawful sample within another sample. According to rapper Plies, Soulja Boy used “Me & My Goons” without permission in “Pretty Boy Swag.”
According to the claim, Soulja Boy then enabled Megan Thee Stallion and GloRilla to sample “Pretty Boy Swag” in “Wanna Be,” paving the way for another unauthorized use.
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