Cases

Barrett v Universal-Island Records & Others

Facts

AB and his brother CB were members of the band Bob Marley & the Wailers. AB claimed that he and CB were parties to various recording agreements with D1 and D2 and that they were therefore entitled to royalties from record sales. AB and CB also sought damages for breach of their copyrights and performers’ rights by Ds exploitation of the band’s recordings, or alternatively for unjust enrichment. CB having died in 1987, AB brought the claims on his own behalf and as administrator of CB’s estate. Litigation in Jamaica and the US over the assets of Bob Marley’s estate, involving AB but not CB or his estate, had led to a settlement agreement in 1994, to which Ds3-13 were parties but which was also intended to extinguish claims against Ds1-2. Ds contended that this settlement agreement precluded the claims. Ds1-2 had not been parties to the settlement agreement, so Ds3-13 were added in order to enforce it.

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