Pioneering funk legend George Clinton has initiated legal proceedings against his ex-business associate, Armen Boladian, seeking to reclaim ownership of his storied music catalog amidst allegations of fraudulent activities and copyright violations. On Tuesday, a lawsuit was filed in a Florida federal court, wherein Clinton contends that Boladian, alongside several of his corporations, orchestrated a "multi-decade conspiracy" that involved falsifying his signature on agreements, thereby surrendering his rights to his own compositions. The complaint further asserts that this elaborate fraud, which has reportedly denied Clinton tens of millions of dollars in royalties, has enabled Boladian to amass ownership of approximately 90 percent of Clinton's catalog.
Clinton is urging the court to issue an immediate injunction to prevent Boladian from soliciting bids for the rights to his music, which he claims Boladian has been illegally attempting to sell. Additionally, Clinton seeks compensatory damages, leveraging a provision in copyright law that empowers creators to reclaim the rights to their works after a specified duration.
In response, Richard Busch, Boladian's legal representative, issued a statement vowing to dismiss the complaint and seek legal sanctions against Clinton. Busch emphasized, "This lawsuit is merely the latest in a lengthy series of legal disputes initiated by Mr. Clinton against Bridgeport and Armen Boladian over the past three decades, each raising identical issues. To date, Clinton has consistently lost every one of these cases."
Clinton, the iconic frontman of Funkadelic, Parliament, and the P-Funk All-stars, whose music has been sampled extensively across diverse genres, has steadfastly maintained through numerous legal endeavors that the paperwork transferring ownership of his works was forged. Notably, in 2001, a Florida federal judge sided with Bridgeport in a dispute concerning the rights to several of Clinton's songs. Boladian has countered that he owes Clinton no money, contending that he has yet to recoup the expenses and advances he has paid to the musician over the years.
The lawsuit meticulously documents various instances of fraud perpetrated by Boladian, who served as Clinton's business partner and agent from 1968 to 1975 and again from 1981 to 1990. Among other things, it alleges that Boladian deceived Clinton into signing blank and standardized agreements, granting him rights to his client's entire catalog.
For a four-year period commencing in 1982, Boladian purportedly forged multiple deals, bestowing his companies with additional rights and shares to Clinton's music, thereby expanding his royalty percentages, according to the lawsuit. Furthermore, it claims that Boladian inserted fictitious songwriters, such as "L. Crane" and "B. Blaine," into copyright registrations for Clinton's songs, effectively diluting the royalties owed to Clinton.
"Moreover, Boladian went so far as to compensate third parties to falsely claim ownership of Clinton's work, thereby defrauding him of royalties derived from these compositions," the complaint alleges. "For instance, Boladian paid Mark Bass to incorrectly assert ownership of the song 'Anybody Get Funked Up,' defrauding Clinton of his rightful royalty shares in the tune."
The lawsuit names several of Boladian's companies — Bridgeport Music, Westbound Records, Nine Records, Southfield Music, and Eastbound Records — as defendants. These shell corporations, which hold copyrights to songs owned by various artists, frequently initiate legal actions against artists who sample Clinton's songs without obtaining licenses. Clinton contends that he has never received any payments stemming from these litigation proceedings.
In his lawsuit, Clinton asserts claims for copyright infringement, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, among numerous others, painting a vivid picture of deceit and financial exploitation.
