George Clinton Files Lawsuit Against Ex-Agent to Claw Back Music Rights

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Legendary funk innovator, George Clinton, is taking legal action against his former business partner, Armen Boladian, in a bid to regain control over his music collection due to accusations of fraudulent activities and copyright violations.

In a court case brought forth on Tuesday in Florida, Clinton alleges that Boladian and multiple businesses associated with him have been running a “decade-spanning trick” where they falsified his signature on agreements relinquishing his music ownership rights. This fraud, which includes withholding millions of dollars in royalties, has reportedly given Boladian control over approximately 90% of Clinton’s music collection, as stated in the complaint.

Clinton is aiming to obtain an immediate injunction to prevent Boladian from soliciting offers for the rights to Clinton’s music, which he claims to have been offering for sale, along with unspecified compensation. Leveraging a provision in copyright law, creators can reclaim ownership of their works after a certain duration, and this is what Clinton intends to do.

Richard Busch, representing Boladian, announced he intends to drop the lawsuit and impose penalties. He further explained, “This is simply the most recent in a long line of lawsuits that Mr. Clinton has brought against Bridgeport and Armen Boladian over the past three decades, all addressing identical concerns. Each time, he has come up short.

Clinton, who led Funkadelic, Parliament, and the P-Funk All-stars, a musician whose work is often borrowed across various music genres, has repeatedly claimed that documents transferring ownership of his songs were falsified. In 2001, a federal court in Florida decided in favor of Bridgeport regarding the rights to several of Clinton’s tunes. Baladian argues that he doesn’t owe Clinton money as he hasn’t recouped the costs and advance payments made to the artist over the years.

The legal complaint outlines various instances where Boladian, a former business partner and agent of Clinton’s from 1968 to 1975 and again from 1981 to 1990, allegedly committed fraud. This involves Boladian deceiving Clinton by getting him to sign blank or standard agreements, which ultimately gave Boladian control over Clinton’s client’s music catalog.

Between 1982 and 1986, Boladian entered into several contracts that extended extra privileges and ownership stake to his companies regarding Clinton’s music, according to the court documents. Clinton claims these deals boosted Boladian’s portion of royalty earnings.

The legal action further alleges that Boladian fraudulently added fictitious songwriters such as “L. Crane” and “B. Blaine,” to the copyright records of Clinton’s songs, with the intention of reducing royalty payments.

The complaint alleges that Boladian not only produced work belonging to the Plaintiff but also paid outsiders to fraudulently assert ownership over these works. For instance, it is claimed that Boladian compensated Mark Bass for falsely claiming “Anybody Get Funked Up” as his own, thus depriving the Plaintiff of royalty earnings associated with this song.

The companies linked to Boladian, namely Bridgeport Music, Westbound Records, Nine Records, Southfield Music, and Eastbound Records, mentioned in the lawsuit, primarily serve as umbrella corporations owning copyrights for various artists’ songs rather than possessing tangible assets like property or goods. These companies often initiate lawsuits against musicians who make use of Clinton’s compositions without obtaining necessary licenses first. However, Clinton claims that he has not received any compensation from these legal proceedings.

In his legal action, Clinton is making assertions regarding copyright violation, fraud, and violated trust (breach of fiduciary duty), along with several other allegations.

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2025-03-12 02:24