Can I Cancel Very Old Publishing Contracts?

[mickwest1]

Hi guys

I'm a "mature" songwriter and musician in England

In the seventies I signed a really bad publishing deal for 3 + 2 years - including song deals for lots of my stuff

The publisher was not a nice guy - he did get a recording deal and did a bit of promotion on some of my songs - but it all came to nothing - and I fell out big time with him after a year or so when I found he was being dishonest about certain things

As far as I can see the publishing contracts are totally one sided and have no cut-off time -

my question is - given that there has been no activity since then - can these still be considered valid - or at least would it be easy to render them invalid?

Would appreciate any help anyone can offer on this - I could put up a copy of a contract if that's allowed

many thanks in advance

Mick

[mickwest1]

by the way - I didn't receive any money or advances - not even the five pence stated on the contracts!!

[john]

I agree with Tom, see an entertainments lawyer.

A couple of thoughts.... You say 3 + 2 years, where is that limit stated in the contract? Also, if the five pence was never paid you could probably get out of the contract as the terms of the contract were not fulfiled. Additionally, if the contract is so completely one sided, the contract may well have proved to be unenforceable.

[mickwest1]

Thanks guys - Tom - take your point and fear you are right - It would be nice though to at least have an idea of where I stand - which I'm hoping maybe some of you guys will have some experience of

John - the 3+2 years was for the "blanket" contract - 3 years with a 2 year option -( which he took up purely out of spite )

it would be great to null the contract because of the non payment of the five pence - but how would I prove not receiving it ?- I think unfortunately though that signing the contract acknowledged the payment

The songs all had individual contracts that had no expiry time mentioned - would be great though if it turned out they were only valid for 5 years also

The contract being unenforceable sounds like a good way to go -

also another publisher said to me that 5 years without any activity is generally considered to be grounds for cancellation - would be nice to confirm that

would you consider having a look if I scan a contract and post it up?

PS: these songs are registered with PRS - I managed to "strike off" the publisher on some of them but they have now changed the system and it looks like you can no longer do that - I don't know if that actually has any effect anyway - again any help gratefully received

Thanks very much for replying guys - I hope I can be of help to someone at some point

cheers

Mick

[john]

Hi Mick

If you scan it and send it via a Personal Message (PM) I will take a look if you want, though I am not a lawyer so any comments I would make are not legal advice. If you are a member of the musician's union you should be able to consult a lawyer and get a proper legal opinion without it being costly at all. You might also be able to get advice from PRS. THeir new application may not offer the ability to make certain changes, but you can still talk to them on the phone and they are very helpful.

Cheers

John

[mickwest1]

Many thanks John

will send shortly - I'm not in the MU - and will have to think about the legal thing -

something else I just discovered is that from 1978 there is a 35 year copyright reversion for writers regardless of contracts - ( in the US at least - not sure if it applies to UK) - so the first wave will be next year - but guess what - my contracts are '76 and '77 - dohhhh!! - although there is some sort of renewal thing after 28 years apparently

And yes I will contact PRS and see what they say

many thanks again

Mick

PS: these posts are not coming through on my email - should they be?

[MikeRobinson]

I think that you definitely will need to consult a qualified attorney in the UK, and that when you do so, you're likely to be able to get your rights back. It seems from your description that he did not deal with you entirely "in bad faith" ... he did "perform" on the agreement and with some amount of success ... but then he sat on it and for forty years seems to have done nothing since. That's arguably too-long to do nothing with a perhaps still-valuable property. But you, or your attorney, might have to argue that.