Hipgnosis Sues Barry Manilow for Breach of Contract Over 2020 Catalog Deal
Written by djfrosty on August 14, 2024
LONDON — Hipgnosis Song Fund is suing Barry Manilow over bonus payments relating to its acquisition of the singer’s catalog four years ago.
The lawsuit was filed at the High Court in London on Monday (Aug. 12). The case is listed as breach of contract, but details of the claim are not publicly available. Three defendants are listed on the court filing: Manilow; Manilow Productions; and the artist’s management company – Hastings, Clayton & Tucker Inc trading as Stiletto Entertainment. News of the court case was first reported by the Financial Times.
In a statement to Billboard, a spokesperson for Hipgnosis described the dispute as a “routine commercial matter concerning the interpretation of certain clauses in a contract regarding bonus payments, which the court is ideally placed to address.”
“While we regret that this couldn’t be resolved directly between the parties, we continue to hold Barry and his music in the highest possible regard and we are confident that this can be resolved in a fair and reasonable way,” the spokesperson went on to say.
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Billboard understands that the claim is for a low sum in the single digit millions. Representatives for Manilow either did not respond to requests to comment or could not be reached.
The court action comes almost exactly four years after Hipgnosis announced that it had acquired 100% of Manilow’s worldwide recording royalties (excluding SoundExchange royalties) in his catalog, comprising 917 songs, for an undisclosed figure. The deal included some of the 81-year-old singer’s biggest hits, including “Mandy,” “I Write the Songs,” “Looks Like We Made It,” “Can’t Smile Without You” and “Copacabana (At the Copa).”
Speaking in 2020, at the time of the catalog acquisition, Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis called Manilow “an incomparable artist, songwriter, arranger, musician and performer,” while the veteran singer praised Mercuriadis for creating “a new type of music company.”
A great deal has changed at Hipgnosis since then.
Last month, private equity group Blackstone completed a $1.6-billion acquisition of the six-year-old, London-listed investment trust that had amassed a huge catalog of 65,000 copyrights including songs by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Journey, Shakira, Blondie and Neil Young.
The takeover followed a tumultuous year in which the publicly traded fund faced a shareholder revolt following a series of missteps and accounting scandals, culminating in bitter infighting between the fund’s board and its investment manager, Hipgnosis Song Management, which was led by Mercuriadis.
The former manager of star acts like Beyoncé, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John announced that he was stepping down as chairman of Hipgnosis Song Management in July, having relinquished his role as chief executive officer earlier this year.