It could happen. Or not.

The news today said the judge could take years to rule. Fucking years. youtube jackers may be fine.

Years? Seriously We all may be too old to enjoy it by then

seriously? i hope thats not true

Warners has no right to the Vault. Prince delivered everything he "owed" them.

NO NO NO!! That is not what he fought for his whole life. They must be so annoyed right now. Only thing I can take solace in. Prince has robbed them of money making and grabbing. Good for him. Cost him an arm and a leg I'm sure. The stress, the stress the stress when fighting for your greatest freedoms.

Actually we don't know what WB has control over. Yes, Prince did get his masters back but if I recall, he turned around and gave WB exclusive license over them in return so it was an almost hollow victory...

I've now also seen a few people on FB claim that there may have been something in his contract to where certain rights reverted to WB upon his death...

WB would only get rights to unreleased/vault material if they can prove it was created for the contract he was signed under at the time it was created. The contract would need to have a clause stating that any material created while under contract is their IP whether turned in or released or vaulted. It's not out of the question actually, I've seen creative contracts state exactly that. They'd need good lawyers, and to prove the dates the material was created and that Prince signed and was under a contract with that exact clause at the time.

[Edited 5/2/16 13:48pm]

GirlBrother said:

Skip to 14:08 of this video which was uploaded on the same day he died. https://youtu.be/m8mg7CxAYUM Notice anything strange about the credit on-screen?

That *is* interesting. It looks like that credit was just added and not originally part of the broadcast. Perhaps it was a mistake on CNN's part *OR* WB has exclusive distribution rights on ALL of his releases now.

Wasn't it mentioned previously that WB had right of first refusal to any work after the new contracts were signed in 2014? Do either of the physical HnR releases mentioned WB anywhere at all?

John

The only thing Warners has any "power" over are the movies.

jtfolden said:

GirlBrother said:

Skip to 14:08 of this video which was uploaded on the same day he died. https://youtu.be/m8mg7CxAYUM Notice anything strange about the credit on-screen?

That *is* interesting. It looks like that credit was just added and not originally part of the broadcast. Perhaps it was a mistake on CNN's part *OR* WB has exclusive distribution rights on ALL of his releases now.

Wasn't it mentioned previously that WB had right of first refusal to any work after the new contracts were signed in 2014? Do either of the physical HnR releases mentioned WB anywhere at all?

John

Phase Two is attributed to Universal Music (maybe for distribution of the physical CD?).

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/prince-settles-18-year-dispute-record-company-article-1.1762106

This article says "Prince’s new partnership will include the release of “previously unheard material” from his nearly two-decade tenure on the label.", so under the 2014 agreement, WB may have rights to everything from 1978 to 1994 or whenever he changed his name.

I am guessing Warner Bros and every other record label on earth is hounding all of Prince's heirs. Logically, a record company is likely to get involved, just because they will offer promotion, pressing, distribution etc etc. It would be nice continuity for WB to be doing the releasing. Also, logically, there needs to be someone stratigically making these releases, not just a glut all at once.

When Elvis died, RCA owned everything and started reissuing right away, and his manager, Col Parker, went right on managing him as if he were alive. I have issues with Elvis' legacy, but a LOT was done exactly right when he died. With Prince, I think his legacy, his vault all of it, was not left in such capable hands

breakbeat said:

jtfolden said:

That *is* interesting. It looks like that credit was just added and not originally part of the broadcast. Perhaps it was a mistake on CNN's part *OR* WB has exclusive distribution rights on ALL of his releases now.

Wasn't it mentioned previously that WB had right of first refusal to any work after the new contracts were signed in 2014? Do either of the physical HnR releases mentioned WB anywhere at all?

John

Phase Two is attributed to Universal Music (maybe for distribution of the physical CD?).

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/prince-settles-18-year-dispute-record-company-article-1.1762106

This article says "Prince’s new partnership will include the release of “previously unheard material” from his nearly two-decade tenure on the label.", so under the 2014 agreement, WB may have rights to everything from 1978 to 1994 or whenever he changed his name.

This doesn't explain TGRES WB caption though, that was under Arista.

jtfolden said:

The Judge just cant decide to give stuff away. However the family may be forced to sell a share of it to someone (most likely a music company who'd insist on control) to get enough cash to pay for their tax bills.

I wonder if Mark Cuban or Elon Musk are fans?

GirlBrother said:

jtfolden said:

That *is* interesting. It looks like that credit was just added and not originally part of the broadcast. Perhaps it was a mistake on CNN's part *OR* WB has exclusive distribution rights on ALL of his releases now.

It wasn't on the original broadcast. Someone recorded the interview on VHS in 1999, later captured it on their phone, and uploaded the video in September 2013. https://youtu.be/Ld9NslDs-a8 Skip to around 04:02 for a comparison.

Yep...

so I wonder if, under the new contract, WB has some sort of blanket right to distribution of all works up to 2014 and right of first refusal for anything released afterwards. I thought from earlier reports and tweets from Prince that the HnR albums were offered to WB and they chose not to release them - which is why I wondered if there were any stray credits to them anywhere on the artwork or liner notes.

jtfolden said:

That wouldn't happen and there's no legal precedent for it

2freaky4church1 said:

It could happen. Or not.

The news today said the judge could take years to rule. Fucking years. youtube jackers may be fine.

Haven't we read that the WB era stuff, through 1996, would revert back to WB should Prince pass away? Not sure about stuff from Emancipation onward. But part of the remasters deal, in which Prince got his masters back in 2014, is that WB would get the masters back after he died.

.

Unless I dreamed all that - but I'm sure it was in an interview or article or something, recently.

GirlBrother said:

jtfolden said:

Yep...

so I wonder if, under the new contract, WB has some sort of blanket right to distribution of all works up to 2014 and right of first refusal for anything released afterwards.

Variety reported the deal as thus...

The wide-ranging deal grants the singer ownership of his master recordings, and allows Warners to digitally remaster and reissue Prince’s albums from 1978 through the 1990s. Financial details were not disclosed.

http://variety.com/2014/m...201159487/ As RU2TJF was released in 1999, I guess that technically it falls under "through the 1990s." That's one album that I never expected WB to repackage and distribute.

Well, until he died I wouldn't have expected so either but perhaps they wanted to keep their options open and I could see a box set at some point in the future, now...

...plus you never know, maybe it was PRINCE that wanted them included as a trade-off for something else.

TrivialPursuit said:

Haven't we read that the WB era stuff, through 1996, would revert back to WB should Prince pass away? Not sure about stuff from Emancipation onward. But part of the remasters deal, in which Prince got his masters back in 2014, is that WB would get the masters back after he died.

.

Unless I dreamed all that - but I'm sure it was in an interview or article or something, recently.

You aren't the only one... I recalled something like that and I've seen more than one person on FB mentioned something like that, as well... I've just not found the source of that info.

emesem said:

The Judge just cant decide to give stuff away. However the family may be forced to sell a share of it to someone (most likely a music company who'd insist on control) to get enough cash to pay for their tax bills.

I wonder if Mark Cuban or Elon Musk are fans?

they might not need a ridiculous amount of input, depends if there is a sibling wanting to cash out and it jeopardises ownership of the Vault and Paisley in the short term. if one of them has head screwed on well they might look for stuff in the vault that is in complete form and not from an era that would cause legal problems, release that first to get revenue rolling and then use that for any ensuing legal battles about releasing more vintage material

That would be ridiculous and make little sense. If true, he then never really got them back but was merely renting them. Talk about 'nothing to leave in your will".

jtfolden said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Haven't we read that the WB era stuff, through 1996, would revert back to WB should Prince pass away? Not sure about stuff from Emancipation onward. But part of the remasters deal, in which Prince got his masters back in 2014, is that WB would get the masters back after he died.

.

Unless I dreamed all that - but I'm sure it was in an interview or article or something, recently.

You aren't the only one... I recalled something like that and I've seen more than one person on FB mentioned something like that, as well... I've just not found the source of that info.

Personally I am less worried about who gets to distribute it than who gets to curate it and decide what gets released.

At best WB have the exclusive right to distribute everything, old and new. At worst they have the exclusive rights to distribute his old WB catalogue only. Either way, WB will be involved in one way or another. And Im quite happy for WB to be involved in the distribution, they are a big part of his legacy. But would I like them to own it? Absolutely not.

Despite the rumors above I don't see how the rights could possibly revert to WB in case Prince died. I'm no lawyer but this makes little sense to me.

The TGRES video WB credit is a mistake by the TV channel, no more. WB does not have distribution rights to anything post 1996 save TVOF4S, AOA and Plec, and this is fact.

WB, however, has distribution exclusivity for all things WB and possibly all 1978-96 vault material as well, and we don't know for how long.

breakbeat said:

Warners would just be a distributor at this point, but I thought he also had a contract where he was going to release music through a French company.

FUNKNROLL said:

breakbeat said:

Phase Two is attributed to Universal Music (maybe for distribution of the physical CD?).

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/prince-settles-18-year-dispute-record-company-article-1.1762106

This article says "Prince’s new partnership will include the release of “previously unheard material” from his nearly two-decade tenure on the label.", so under the 2014 agreement, WB may have rights to everything from 1978 to 1994 or whenever he changed his name.

Not surprising. Not uncommon for entertainment contracts to include language that state intellectual property developed while employed belongs to the employer, whether it's released or not. Imagine working for Disney or some other media company, and you come up with a character of your own but you decide to wait a year after quitting to do something with it. From their perspective they own it because it's likely you wouldn't have had the idea if you hadn't worked for them. Hard to imagine Warners didn't always have an agreement that covered unreleased material from the 80s.

It's not a matter of having an idea but of who pays for studio fee and exclusivity. WB's advances theorically paid for everything P recorded (when WB didn't pay the studio bill directly) and his contract involved exclusivity over anything recorded, including live shows. It's really a standard record company contract: some bands were stuck for years with labels that wouldn't release anything from them but could prevent them from even sending a demo to another label or a tape to radio stations to promote live shows. Jill Jones herself was stuck until 1993 into a similar situation because of her contract with Paisley Park (not WB).

GirlBrother said:

Skip to 14:08 of this video which was uploaded on the same day he died. https://youtu.be/m8mg7CxAYUM Notice anything strange about the credit on-screen?

Yeah they did it wrong, it should be ARISTA / NPG