After half a century of legal battles, American musician John Fogerty announced Thursday that he had regained his copyright to the songs he composed for his 1970s flagship band Creedence Clearwater Revival.
At a time when his rock and folk peers – Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan or Neil Young – are selling the rights to their works for hundreds of millions of dollars, Fogerty, 77, is doing the opposite.
“Since January I’ve been the owner of my own songs again. I thought that would never happen. Can’t wait to tour and party this year! “, the artist rejoiced on his side and spoke of a “resurrection”.
Indeed, one of the most painful pages in the history of copyright and intellectual property of a musician in the United States is turned: Fogerty – composer of the famous “Proud Mary”, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and “Bad Moon”. Rising” – fought in court for 50 years to regain control after a bad record deal.
In the mid-1960s, the then “Pope” of music and cinema, Saul Zaentz, who died in 2014, signed Fogerty and his group Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) to his Fantasy Records label.
Very quickly, the rights to the famous anti-Vietnam War song “Fortunate Son” are the focus of complaints, lawsuits and press campaigns led by John Fogerty.
When his group CCR collapsed in the early 1970s, the battle with Fantasy Records to break the contract intensified. Vain.
The result is a long silence for the artist, who even refuses to sing the tracks of his former group.
It wasn’t until 2004 that the label bought Concord Fantasy, but John Fogerty didn’t get his rights back.
The rocker recently made an offer with financial details to remain confidential, which Concord signed.
According to media Billboard, which first unveiled the agreement Thursday from the mouth of John Fogerty, the Concord house was to retain the rights it already owned to CCR, while the musician was to get back all of his copyrights.
These rights make it possible to receive dividends for a track being broadcast on radio or streaming, for album sales, or for use in an advertisement or film, and recording rights holders can decide on future re-releases.
In a statement, Concord President Bob Valentine called Fogerty’s work “one of the greatest compositions of the 20th century” and said he was “more than happy” to have sealed an agreement.