Tag Archives: sues

Steely Dan Co-Founder Sues for Control of Band

Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) member and Steely Dan co-founder, Donald Fagen, is suing the estate of his late, longtime musical partner Walter Becker in order to maintain control of the group and its name.

In 1972 when the band was formed, they signed an agreement that, upon the death or departure of a Steely Dan band-member, the group would purchase that member’s shares. Since around 1975, the group had fundamentally been a duo of Becker and Fagen accompanied by session musicians.

A few days after Becker’s death, Fagen received notice that the 1972 buy/sell share agreement was “of no force or effect.” He demanded that Becker’s widow, Delia, be appointed director or officer of the group, meaning she was also entitled to 50% ownership.

Fagen is seeking a ruling to uphold the buy/sell agreement as well as to require Becker’s estate to sell his shares of the group, along with damages.

 

AFM Sues Film Studios

In May, the AFM filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros., Paramount, and MGM for violating their master contracts by recording film scores outside the US and Canada. According to the suit, scores for Interstellar, Robocop, and Carrie were scored in Great Britian, and the soundtack for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was recorded in Papua New Guinea and Australia.

Under their AFM agreements “[all] theatrical motion pictures produced by the Producer in the United States or Canada, if scored, shall be scored in the United States or Canada,” unless excused by the AFM under circumstances not present here.

The AFM has not specified a dollar amount for damages, but has asked for a trial to determine damages to its members for loss of work due to the violations.

The AFM has also been hard at work lobbying for tax break legislation to help stem the tide of the offshoring of film scoring projects both at the local and federal level. On page 8, read about California’s proposed bill AB 1199 and how California locals are working to make sure it pushes forward.