Legendary funk musician George Clinton has filed a lawsuit against music executive Armen Boladian and several of his companies, accusing them of orchestrating a “decades-long scheme to defraud” him of royalties and copyright ownership.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida on Tuesday (March 11), alleges fraud, copyright infringement, and breach of fiduciary duty, among other claims.
George Clinton, who formed the Parliament-Funkadelic music collective, claims Armen Boladian and his companies — including Bridgeport Music, Westbound Records, Nine Records, Southfield Music, and Eastbound Records — “fraudulently obtained the copyrights to approximately 90%” of his music catalog.
Clinton launched his career in the 1960s, penning and recording “thousands of songs and sound recordings. In 2019, he received the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award at the GRAMMY Salute to Music Legends.
“Following his initial worldwide success in 1967, Defendants developed a decades-long scheme to defraud Clinton and successful artists like Clinton,” according to the court filing.
The lawsuit alleges that Boladian, who worked with Clinton as a business partner, publishing administrator, financial consultant and agent between 1968-1975 and 1981-1991, engaged in “abusive, deceptive, and fraudulent practices” to steal Clinton’s assets.
“I’m fighting for my life’s work and to ensure future generations of artists are treated fairly.”
George Clinton
“This scheme involved seeking out Clinton and developing a business relationship with the young new artist,” stated the complaint, which can be read in full here.
Clinton further alleged that Boladian withheld royalties, failed to provide proper accounting, and added fictitious songwriters to Clinton’s songs to dilute his share of publishing royalties. The lawsuit says Boladian is known throughout the music industry as a “copyright troll.”
The complaint alleges that Boladian “collects copyrights to various catalogs, holds on to the rights, then files lawsuits to get money from producers and musicians who sample the songs he looted the rights to.”
The artist also claims Boladian fabricated multiple versions of agreements during the 1980s, increasing Boladian and his companies’ share of royalties without Clinton’s knowledge or consent. Additionally, Boladian allegedly made deals with record labels and third parties regarding Clinton’s music without informing him, leaving Clinton to discover unauthorized use of his work in movies, TV shows, and advertisements.
“This is just the latest in a series of lawsuits that Mr. Clinton has filed against Bridgeport and Armen Boladian over the last 30 years raising the same exact issues.”
Richard Busch, Armen Boladian’s Lawyer
The complaint cited examples such as Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker), which was allegedly used as part of the on-ride soundtrack for Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!; Atomic Dog, which was sampled in Digga Digga Dog for the 102 Dalmatians movie; Give Up The Funk (Tear the Roof Off), which was used in The Purge: Election Year; and ads for Apple and WhatsApp, among others.
The lawsuit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as the return of Clinton’s copyrights. Clinton’s legal team claims that the artist was denied “tens of millions of dollars of royalties.” Several news outlets reported that Clinton is seeking $100 million in damages.
“I’m fighting for my life’s work and to ensure future generations of artists are treated fairly,” Clinton was quoted by several news outlets as saying. “When you’re young and just starting out in the music industry, it’s easy for others to take advantage of you. My eyes are wide open now, and I look forward to shining a light on the truth and exploitation of musicians.”
This is not the first legal clash between Clinton and Boladian. The two have been embroiled in disputes for over 30 years, with Clinton previously losing attempts to regain control of his publishing rights in the early 2000s. However, Clinton won a defamation case against Boladian in 2021 after Boladian sued over claims in Clinton’s memoir that he had “fabricated documents” and “robbed” Clinton of his music rights.
Attorney Richard Busch, who represents Boladian and Bridgeport, told Variety: “This is just the latest in a series of lawsuits that Mr. Clinton has filed against Bridgeport and Armen Boladian over the last 30 years raising the same exact issues.
“He has lost each and every time, including in the very courthouse in which he has filed this latest lawsuit. We will obviously therefore be moving to dismiss this lawsuit and will be seeking sanctions.”
The funk artist’s case is just one of similar disputes in the music industry where artists seek to regain control of their catalogs.
After losing control of their publishing rights in the 1960s, The Beatles spent decades trying to regain ownership of their catalog. Michael Jackson purchased ATV Music, which owned most Beatles songs, in 1985 for $47.5 million, outbidding Paul McCartney. McCartney finally regained partial rights to the catalog in 2017 after a settlement with Sony/ATV.
Prince, who signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records at the age of 18, also had a dispute with the label over money and control of his music. He left the label when his contract was completed in 1996. In 2014, Prince regained ownership of his catalog.
Another high-profile lawsuit is Taylor Swift’s legal battle versus Big Machine Records. Swift publicly battled with her former label and music executive Scooter Braun over ownership of her master recordings. After losing control of her first six albums, Swift decided to re-record her entire catalog to regain economic control of her work.
Music Business Worldwide