George Clinton is suing his former business partner for “fraudulently” acquiring the rights to nearly 90% of his work.
The Parliament-Funkadelic singer-songwriter filed the copyright lawsuit in the Northern District of Florida on Tuesday against music producer Armen Boladian and his entertainment companies, including Bridgeport Music.
Clinton claims Boladian has acquired the rights to his and Parliament-Funkadelic’s music – including the hit songs “Atomic Dog,” “Flashlight,” “One Nation Under A Groove” and “We Want the Funk (Tear the Roof Off)” – by “adding fictitious songwriters to dilute Clinton’s share in songwriters royalties,” urging Clinton to sign blank contracts and signing agreements on his behalf without his consent to claim ownership of his music.
Boladian’s reps could not be reached for comment.
Clinton and Boladian worked together from 1968 through 1975, and 1981 through 1990, according to the suit.
Boladian and his “one-man” companies are most notable in the music world for their own frequent lawsuits for copyright infringement via sampling of Clinton’s music and previously being referred to as a “copyright troll,” according to the filing. The companies “employ little to no staff and have no assets other than copyright,” the filing alleges.
Boladian is “collecting royalties from Clinton’s catalog while fraudulently denying Clinton tens of millions of dollars,” the filing reads. While Boladian and his several entertainment companies are “suing other producers and artists who sample songs to which (they) fraudulently acquired rights,” they are also failing to provide an accounting of royalties owed to the funk bandleader, according to the lawsuit.
Boladian and Bridgeport Music have sued hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, Public Enemy, The Notorious B.I.G. and N.W.A. for copyright infringement.
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient says he has “suffered and continues to suffer significant economic injury” as a result.
Clinton’s team claims Boladian has stolen the masters or exploited other “young, gifted artists” and alleges there may be a racial component to Boladian’s motivations.
“Boladian expressed his views that Black artists lacked the education and intelligence to understand issues such as copyright infringement and legal proceedings,” the lawsuit claims. “Accordingly, he felt emboldened and entitled to defraud artists like Clinton.”
Clinton is requesting a jury trial.
Clinton and Boladian have had multiple legal disputes as far back as 1981. The singer-songwriter has for years claimed Boladian stole his copyrights, including in his 2014 memoir, “Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You?,” for which Boladian brought a defamation lawsuit. In 2021, Clinton defeated the lawsuit, with the jury finding that the legendary musician did not defame the producer.
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