Legal

Adam Lambert sued by pre-Idol label

By | Published on Monday 7 November 2011

Adam Lambert

An American company called Colwel Platinum Entertainment is suing former ‘American Idol’ runner-up Adam Lambert claiming it has agreements with the pop star dating from before his appearance on the ‘Idol’ franchise. The lawsuit claims the singer has breached those agreements by working with Sony label RCA since his stint on ‘Idol’. If true, that would also likely mean Lambert broke the rules for entering the telly talent contest, which say that contenders must not already have record or similar deals in place, because otherwise the format’s owners wouldn’t for able to force their own deals on the winners.

The claimants have gone legal after reps for Lambert ordered Amazon stop selling an album of the singer’s early pre-Idol recordings which Colwel Platinum Entertainment recently released. The music company said it had a ‘music services agreement’ with Lambert, who recorded tracks for the company in 2007 and 2008, before appearing on Idol in 2009. Representatives of the company say they spent $200,000 on the tracks, as well as advancing cash to Lambert, and that they own the copyright in the recordings and a stake of the publishing on the singer’s writing.

They add that by entering ‘Idol’ and subsequently signing to RCA he breached their agreements, as well as breaking the Idol show’s rules. And, for good measure, they say that all this means that when Team Lambert ordered their album of the singer’s songs be removed from Amazon under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it was a misuse of said Act.

The lawsuit is looking for confirmation Colwel Platinum Entertainment has ownership of and can sell the recordings Lambert made for them, as well as seeking damages. Team Lambert are yet to respond.



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