May 2005
Writers of the Buena Vista Social Club Songs Got a Rum Deal
The Cuban government was recently in a High Court battle with the American company, Peer International Corporation (PIC), over the copyright to the music played by the Buena Vista Social Club.
The music was masterfully composed by at least 14 writers and dates back to the 1930s. The music grabbed the nation in 1997 with the album and again in 1999 with the Buena Vista film. Termidor Music Publishers, in league with the Editoria Musical de Cuba (EMC), tried to register itself as owning the exclusive copyrights of the songs in the UK and this prompted PIC to sue, claiming that the copyright to the songs had been unlawfully taken over by the Cuban government.
PIC claim that they had paid royalties to the composers until the Cuban revolution in 1959 when a US embargo stopped payments to Cuba. EMC claim that they were not paid a penny and that the original contracts were 'unconscionable bargains' which were not legally recognisable. A lawyer, in acting for the EMC, stated that PIC's claims to the music of 600 Cuban composers were all invalid. He said "we shall demonstrate that these contracts were so cunningly contrived as to allow the publishers to get away with paying the composers practically nothing…The composers in this case received nothing or, at most, a few pesos and maybe a drink of rum.
BRIFFA Comment:
Claims come out of the woodwork for many reasons, challenging the existing status quo. There could be any number of reasons for this. Sometimes it is the result of a deliberate ploy, where for example, an artist/creator has been tricked or unduly influenced to enter into a bad bargain or to simply give away the rights to their works. Other times, where it was the true intention of the parties to license, assign or sell a work and/or pay royalties, a contractual, administrative or auditing error has prevented this from materialising.
This case highlights how important it is to know your rights and to know how you can police and protect them, whatever the product is, whether it be a design, a trade mark or a song. Briffa are experienced in advising people on how best to do this and would be more than happy to assist with any queries you may have.