laurarichardson said:

donnyenglish said:

justAmeda said:

morningsong said:

I take it those lovely cryptic tweets have stopped.

hope so! I know recently that Sharon, Norrine, and Alfred got an emergency protection order granted against Londell

Sounds like they're closing ranks.

Universal must didn't want the masters to "Poom Poom" and "Purple & Gold".

Oh this is perfect.

Prince is Prince even in the after life.

NewpowerScarfo said:

rogifan said:

laurarichardson said:

NewpowerScarfo said:

Universal must didn't want the masters to "Poom Poom" and "Purple & Gold".

---- Maybe they want go get what they paid for.

That's assuming they had an clue on what exactly they're paying for. Clearly there was miscommunication.

How can the record company own the music that is in his personal vault????? I totally do not understand that!! He never released it.

Misty48 said:

Misty48 said:

rogifan said:

Prince traded the non-US rights to his albums forever along with giving Warner to right to block any pre-1995 vault release so he could get his masters back?

-edit What a mess. I can't believe he gave up the rights to Purple Rain and Parade in perpetuity.

The problem, sources say, may lie in the complexity of Prince’s 2014 deal with Warner. That deal, negotiated by Warner Bros. Records chairman/CEO Cameron Strang, was struck as the rights to albums from Prince’s Warner catalog were becoming eligible to revert to him. (A 1976 revision to U.S. copyright law allows creators of intellectual property to reclaim ownership 35 years after a work is first released or published; the first of Prince’s 18 albums for the label was released in 1978.) The 2014 deal, for which Prince was represented by attorney and CNN commentator Van Jones, had different terms for certain albums: Warner retained the rights to soundtrack albums to Warner Bros. films — including Prince’s biggest-selling albums, “Purple Rain,” “Parade,” and “Batman “– in perpetuity. But the other albums were subject to varying terms, territories (Warner retains non-U.S. rights to most recordings in perpetuity), formats (digital vs. physical), and term lengths.

One source tells Variety that the complex terms of the 2014 deal would be easy to misrepresent or misunderstand if read quickly or cursorily.

Koppelman and McMillan signed on as special music-industry advisers in June and, with a January 2017 due date for the first installment of a $100 million estate-tax bill, quickly set to work securing the late artist’s music assets. In addition to updating the 2014 Warner pact (clearing the way for the November release of the Prince 4Ever compilation and a forthcoming deluxe edition of “Purple Rain,” both with unreleased tracks) and the Universal recorded-music deal, those include a publishing pact with Universal, performing rights with Irving Azoff’s Global Music Rights, and merchandising with Universal’s Bravado. Those deals also cleared the way for much of Prince’s music to be made widely available on major streaming services; from July 2015 until February of this year, Prince’s music was limited to the Tidal streaming service, via a deal made by the artist that is currently being contested by the estate.

Koppelman and McMillan’s arrangement as advisors to the estate, which sources say netted them a 10 percent commission on each deal, ended when Bremer voluntarily stepped down as administrator. However, McMillan remains deeply involved, as he represents four of Prince’s six likely heirs (although his representation of one of them, Alfred Jackson, is disputed by another attorney); Van Jones represents two.

While the Universal deal gave the company rights to most of Prince’s non-Warner material as well as the hundreds of unreleased recordings in his much-vaunted “vault,” sources say the company was far more interested in the proven hits from the ‘80s.

This latest development suggests that the legal battles around Prince’s estate will become even more tangled and complex in the months and years to come.

[Edited 4/15/17 10:25am]

Strive said:

I can't believe he gave up the rights to Purple Rain and Parade in perpetuity.

Look on the bright side, if the Purple Rain deluxe actually pans out, we might get one for Parade too, most likely long before the estate gets it's house in order.

charismatic said:

march said:

Does anyone out there know the details of the contract Prince signed with WB in 2014?What did Prince get out of the deal?

I was wondering the same thing after I read this portion of the article in Variety

"The problem, sources say, may lie in the complexity of Prince’s 2014 deal with Warner. That deal, negotiated by Warner Bros. Records chairman/CEO Cameron Strang, was struck as the rights to albums from Prince’s Warner catalog were becoming eligible to revert to him. (A 1976 revision to U.S. copyright law allows creators of intellectual property to reclaim ownership 35 years after a work is first released or published; the first of Prince’s 18 albums for the label was released in 1978.) The 2014 deal, for which Prince was represented by attorney and CNN commentator Van Jones, had different terms for certain albums: Warner retained the rights to soundtrack albums to Warner Bros. films — including Prince’s biggest-selling albums, “Purple Rain,” “Parade,” and “Batman “– in perpetuity"

Sorry if this was discussed previously, but why (speculation I know) would P agree to permitting WB to retain the rights to those albums given that he could have gotten the rights to Purple Rain in about 5 more years (i.e. if it was released in 1984, 35 years after would have been 2019).

Asenath0607 said:

march said:

Does anyone out there know the details of the contract Prince signed with WB in 2014?What did Prince get out of the deal?

I was wondering the same thing after I read this portion of the article in Variety

"The problem, sources say, may lie in the complexity of Prince’s 2014 deal with Warner. That deal, negotiated by Warner Bros. Records chairman/CEO Cameron Strang, was struck as the rights to albums from Prince’s Warner catalog were becoming eligible to revert to him. (A 1976 revision to U.S. copyright law allows creators of intellectual property to reclaim ownership 35 years after a work is first released or published; the first of Prince’s 18 albums for the label was released in 1978.) The 2014 deal, for which Prince was represented by attorney and CNN commentator Van Jones, had different terms for certain albums: Warner retained the rights to soundtrack albums to Warner Bros. films — including Prince’s biggest-selling albums, “Purple Rain,” “Parade,” and “Batman “– in perpetuity"

Sorry if this was discussed previously, but why (speculation I know) would P agree to permitting WB to retain the rights to those albums given that he could have gotten the rights to Purple Rain in about 5 more years (i.e. if it was released in 1984, 35 years after would have been 2019).

I don't understand it either.

Ok, I don’t know anything about the music industry. Does it saythat Prince himself gave up (licensed all use) all control to all his music to WB internationally? As in the entire world except for domestically? Forever???? And Prince gave up rights to the albums listed above? And the vault stuff recoreded while at WB?

What did Prince get out of this?

Sorry to be dense, I just don’t understand. Please give me the Prince WP licensing for dummies version. thank you.

Wow, that is quite a deal if WB did get the right to block any pre-1995 release from the vault! That's HUGE. But I guess it depend on how much was written/there from 1995-2016. That's another two decades after all - and those which included some tumultuous times for him. I imagine there were lots of writing through them.

I just wish someone who could properly manager these type of affairs was at the helm so that all parties are handled correctly and so that Paisley Park is left on positive ground. And so the items that are there are finally shared with us fans who would cherish it

What the holy fuck.. THIS STINKS...

laurarichardson said:

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

I know almost nothing about what's going on with the estate, mainly because I'm not particularly interested in all this businessy shit (not why I got into Prince's music), but does this mean that the Purple Rain deluxe edition might be delayed or cancelled?

It is not going to be delayed if WB has the rights to put it out. They have already announced it and Universal would not be asking for their money back if they were not sure that cannot have the rights to the WB vault material.

It is not that complicated either WB has the rights or they do not. I love it as it proves Prince made provisions for this material before his death. No greedy ass lawyers and family members can go against his wishes.

If some stupid ass attorney had not tried to come in and go against his wishes this mess would never have happened in the first place.

I gotta hand it to you Laura..You are one smart cookie..

U THink like Prince..

laurarichardson said:

rogifan said:

What was/is their alternative?

Well WSJ report no other companies even got a shot at bidding. So will no what other offers could have been avaliable or if the WB makes any offer moot. It is a giant fuck up and the lawsuits will be flying.

In other words The estate tried to sell, something that actualy belonged with Warners all along ?

laurarichardson said:

Misty48 said:

How can the record company own the music that is in his personal vault????? I totally do not understand that!! He never released it.

I think when he signed his deal with WB to get back the masters a part of the deal was that WB would get the right to license out the material. WB is going to put out greatest hits, remaster the WB albums, put out box sets, and take care of the marketing and promotion. Basically he had to give up some control to the master tapes and realize that putting out the vault material would require a outlay of cash with no gurranteed of a profit. I think he thought that working WB would be a good way to get the music out. According to the media report the rights that WB have internationaly are forever. Media reports said that the deal domestically would end in 2018. Now I am thinking that is not true and the WB deal domestically may forever as well. If this true it means Prince's wish will be honored no matter what greedy lawyers, sibs, probate court, or greedy ass ex-mangers have to say. We see soon enough to what happened but I think Prince got the last laugh.

His Genius continues..

Its a canny move on his behalf because it also guaratnees that his Music will be well circulated

DD55 said:

Asenath0607 said:

I was wondering the same thing after I read this portion of the article in Variety

"The problem, sources say, may lie in the complexity of Prince’s 2014 deal with Warner. That deal, negotiated by Warner Bros. Records chairman/CEO Cameron Strang, was struck as the rights to albums from Prince’s Warner catalog were becoming eligible to revert to him. (A 1976 revision to U.S. copyright law allows creators of intellectual property to reclaim ownership 35 years after a work is first released or published; the first of Prince’s 18 albums for the label was released in 1978.) The 2014 deal, for which Prince was represented by attorney and CNN commentator Van Jones, had different terms for certain albums: Warner retained the rights to soundtrack albums to Warner Bros. films — including Prince’s biggest-selling albums, “Purple Rain,” “Parade,” and “Batman “– in perpetuity"

Sorry if this was discussed previously, but why (speculation I know) would P agree to permitting WB to retain the rights to those albums given that he could have gotten the rights to Purple Rain in about 5 more years (i.e. if it was released in 1984, 35 years after would have been 2019).

I don't understand it either.

Ok, I don’t know anything about the music industry. Does it saythat Prince himself gave up (licensed all use) all control to all his music to WB internationally? As in the entire world except for domestically? Forever???? And Prince gave up rights to the albums listed above? And the vault stuff recoreded while at WB?

What did Prince get out of this?

Sorry to be dense, I just don’t understand. Please give me the Prince WP licensing for dummies version. thank you.

Guarantee that his music will be circulated

Warners have control of it, and you can be dam sure they will try and make as mouch money as they can..

And what will Prince get ?

More Fame,

and the fortune ?

Final Gift to warners,

yeah I won, But you can have the Prize anyway,

You need it more than me Love God

Let's not be too harsh on the estate.
It took them one year, but after so much anticipation, we finally got tamborines ugly as hell.
Uh, sorry, "tamboraccas".

I say let's all make a Kickstarter to buy some cloud servers in world regions where no one can't get their MBA's dirty hands on, and sell all of the Vault for profit to charities.
After all, we already have it, for the most part. Let's have these corporate mothafuckaz kiss his ass, m'kay.

[Edited 4/16/17 7:51am]

bonatoc said:

Asenath0607 said:

I wonder if the time he made the deal with WB was along the line of time Tyka said he told her he did what all he was meant to do (paraphrasing I don't remember word for word).

is the label going to write 'slave' across their emblem?