A New York appeals court has rejected the lawsuit including Bob Dylan that claimed the singer-songwriter was in debt to the estate of one-time collaborator, Jacques Levy, for a portion of his Universal catalog sale.
Dylan sold the rights to his song catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group in December of 2020 for a price sources place at nearly $400 million.
A month later, Claudia Levy — the widow of songwriter Jacques Levy — claimed Levy’s estate was entitled to a $7.25 million share of the UMG deal under an agreement dating back to 1975. The late Levy contributed as a co-writer of “Hurricane” and nine other songs on Dylan’s 1976 album, “Desire.” LastAugust, a judge ruled that Levy had signed away his co-ownership rights under an employee-for-hire situation that had granted complete ownership to Dylan; Levy asked the courts to overturn that ruling late last year, arguing that this was “the ultimate attempt to rewrite Levy out of Dylan’s history.”
Dylan’s attorneys responded to the request to overturn by describing the case as an “opportunistic attempt” at an “unjustified windfall.”
On Tuesday, New York’s Appellate Division affirmed the judge’s original ruling, stating: “The parties’ agreement is unambiguous, and does not entitle plaintiffs to proceeds from the sale of the copyrights of the compositions cowritten with Dylan.”
Dylan’s attorney, Orin Snyder of the law firm Gibson Dunn, told Billboard: “Today’s decision puts the nail in the coffin of this opportunistic lawsuit. We are pleased the court has again rejected this sad attempt to profit off of Bob’s recent catalog sale.”
The judge’s original ruling highlighted the distinctions between Levy’s royalty rights versus his estate’s non-existent rights to the catalog sale.
The appeals court continued, “Nothing submitted by plaintiffs concerning music industry custom and practice supports a reading otherwise, or even suggests an ambiguity in the relevant contractual language.”
Following Tuesday’s decision, Claudia Levy has the option to appeal the case a final time (although this is an uncommon occurrence) to New York’s highest appellate court, the Court of Appeals, which could overturn the decision.
