Brian Wilson sued by ex-wife over $50 million song rights deal with Universal
completemusicupdate.comBrian Wilson is involved in a legal battle with his ex-wife Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford over a $50 million deal he signed late last year in relation to his songs catalogue with Universal Music Publishing.According to legal papers, there were two elements to the mega-bucks deal between Wilson and the publisher, which already controlled his songs catalogue (although Wilson and his father originally set up their own publishing business in the early 1960s, that was subsequently sold with the catalogue ultimately ending up with Universal).The first element of the big deal saw Universal acquire the songwriter share of income Wilson retained under his original publishing deal.
The second element related to Wilson’s termination right under American copyright law, via which he could seek to reclaim the US rights in his songs.
But, instead of doing that, he took a one-off payment from the major. Of the $50 million, nearly $32 million related to the first element, and the rest to the second element.The dispute with Wilson-Rutherford stems from the couple’s 1981 divorce settlement.
That settlement gave Wilson-Rutherford a 50% interest in any income Wilson received from the songs he wrote during their marriage, so from 1964 to 1978.
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