Elvis Presley vs. Sony - Royalties dispute continues
In the 1970s, Elvis Presley and his manager Colonel Tom Parker received a $5.4 million buyout, but then copyright was extended, and consumers moved to digital outlets like iTunes and Spotify. His estate is currently battling a subsidiary of Sony Music in Germany over foreign royalties . This month, the 4-year-old legal battle spilled into a New York federal court as Elvis Presley Enterprises contends with Sony's corporate structure and intercompany licensing agreements and looks to obtain more documentation on how Presley's musical works have been exploited. In 1974, Presley entered into a buyout agreement with RCA , terminating all previous agreements between the musician and the record company . As part of that deal, Presley got $2.8 million, and his manager "Colonel" Tom Parker got $2.6 million. What Elvis didn't see coming was copyright term extensions that would push back the date when his songs entered the public domain. A lot more revenu...
