Copyright

• Author: International Law Group

In 1971, Bruce Springsteen, then 21, met Mssrs. Appel and Cretecos, songwriters. The following year, Springsteen, Appel and Cretecos agreed that the latter two would promote Springsteen's interests.

The two men initially set up three partnerships, Laurel Canyon Management (LCM) to serve as Springsteen's manager, Sioux City Music, Inc.(SCM) to handle his songwriting activities and Laurel Canyon Productions (LCP) to deal with his recordings.

From the beginning, the parties intended that Jules Kurz, Esq., a New York attorney with experience in the music industry, would form corporations to take over from the partnerships when the parties could afford the required fees. Springsteen signed contracts with the three partnerships to perform the above functions on his behalf. Apparently the successor corporations came into being between June 1972 and June 1973.

Soon afterwards, LCP, Inc. entered into a recording contract with CBS, a major record and master tape producer, since taken over by Sony. Over the following year, Appel and Cretecos had Kurz incorporate several companies in New York. Laurel Canyon, Ltd. took over LCP's business, SCM eventually became Laurel Canyon Music Ltd., and LCM became Laurel Canyon Management, Ltd. According to Kurz, the minutes of the first directors' meeting would have included a signed standard form to transfer all partnership assets to the corporations (including copyrights).

Masquerade Music Ltd. was an English company which imported over a dozen Springsteen songs and CDS, claiming it was completely unaware that the recordings were copyrighted. In the ensuing litigation brought by Springsteen in the English Chancery Court, Masquerade denied that the minutes recording the transfer of assets from the partnerships to the corporations contained an assignment of partnership copyrights. In 1975, one of Springsteen's records sold more than one million copies.

U.S. litigation soon broke out between Springsteen and Appel. After some discovery, the parties settled the suit in May 1977 in the "basic agreement." The parties included Springsteen, the three corporations and Appel. After becoming assignee of all copyrights, Springsteen assigned to Laurel Canyon Music, Ltd., inter alia, a half share in three of the copyrights disputed before the English courts. In May 1983, Laurel Canyon reassigned these copyrights to Springsteen.

In April 1979, Cretecos sued Appel and others in the U.S. claiming that Appel had misled Cretecos...