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April 1, 2012

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The Ray Charles Foundation is suing the late singer's children for attempting to gain copyright control of some Ray Charles' songs. Seven of the singer's twelve children are being sued by the foundation for allegedly trying to improperly obtain the copyright on a dozen of his songs.

According to the lawsuit, in 2002, Charles gave each of his children $500,000 under the condition that they would not seek further inheritance claims on his musical estate.

The Ray Charles Foundation, which provides funding to youth programs and research into hearing impairment, is currently the sole beneficiary of Charles' estate.

Ray Charles' children applied in March 2010 to regain the copyrights of the songs under the 1976 Copyright Act, which allows artists to regain royalties after a certain number of years if their value has increased.

The foundation claims that because Charles awarded each of his children $500,000, prior to his death in 2004, they have agreed to not seek any financial portion of their father's estate. They also said the "termination of transfer" rule does not apply, as Charles had renegotiated his royalty rates with his publishers in 1980.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to prevent the termination of transfers, the first of which goes through today (April 1), and to prevent the seven defendants from entering any business dealings with Charles' songs. They also ask for the $500,000 from each of his children, along with legal costs.

I thought it was a million he gave them...

Based on media reports, Ray created a $500K trust for each of his offspring 2 years prior to his death.

I would be more that satisfied with half a million from a wealthy parent.

[Edited 4/1/12 21:13pm]

Identity said:

Based on media reports, Ray created a $500K trust for each of his offspring 2 years prior to his death.

I would be more that satisfied with half a million from a wealthy parent.

[Edited 4/1/12 21:13pm]

Interesting, because I had heard it was 1 million but if it was actually $500,000, did they sell it all?!

Ray's children probably wasted the money he bequeathed to them individually and now desire to gain ownership of song copyrights. The foundation is counting on legal loopholes to avoid the transfer.