Robert Fripp's Diary

Friday 09 February 2007

DGM HQ Well The suspension

09.30

DGM HQ.

Well. The suspension & re-activation of my AOL account, in the night, has had the effect of dropping some 170 e-mails. This is an effective, though not ideal, way of immediately reducing an overfull in-box to empty. If any e-correspondents wonder why they have received no reply to a burning issue, please re-send.

11.40 The current-arising music-industry-business-development of yesterday & the morning: huge amounts of KC publishing income from US record sales remain uncollected by BMG. This has been the subject of correspondence for 6 years, and of e-mails yesterday & today. David & myself, with BMG Publishing Power Possessors at the BMG HQ in London, discussed this some 3 years ago.

Under the terms of the Endless Grief Settlement (1997) copyright ownership on KC material in the disputed period was legally vested in myself (personally acknowledging the interests of the other Crims); and during the lifetime of the copyrights, licensing was granted by the copyright owner (RF) to BMG Publishing (ie in the UK). Sub-licensing in other territories therefore became the responsibility & prerogative of BMG in the UK.

DGM has been aware of uncollected money in the US since 2001 & actively trying to pay the publishing on DGM US record releases since 2003. But we have not been sent licenses by BMG US; and without licenses, we are unable to send the publishing money. So, every year we return to this, once or twice: can we send you money please? Please send us the licenses. If DGM is actively trying to send money, and it’s not being collected, do we believe that Virgin/EMI & Sanctuary regularly contact BMG in the US and ask please may we send you large sums of unpaid publishing? If BMG US are not collecting from someone trying to send them money, should we have any confidence in BMG US collecting from someone waiting to be sent a license? DGM record sales are small beer. So, an informed guess on uncollected income from major KC releases would be a factor of 1000%.

This was part of our discussion on the last occasion we had extensive dealings with BMG UK, in 2004. At that time it was agreed there was significant uncollected US income; an 18-month period was agreed as being quite enough time to put their affairs in order; and, anything beyond that period, would be a demonstration of incompetence. Now, some 18 months beyond the time period agreed as demonstrable-of-incompetence, we are in the same position.

Our lawyer has suggested to us it would be difficult to overthrow a contract on the basis of (demonstrable) incompetence because, if incompetence were sufficient cause for contracts to be voided, no record contract could be considered safe. What! Dear innocent reader, please read the preceding sentence again. And this is the considered view of one of the smartest music industry lawyers in the UK. The difficulty of appreciating this situation, for the reasonable outsider person, is to grasp a level of incompetence, in one of the largest music companies in the world, that defies belief.

12.30 The office is fielding a full team today: David, Alex, Hugh, Indeg, Nicky & the Venal Manager-Friend of About-To-Be-Becoming Stars.

The Manic Fury That Is DGM: Parking Lot…