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Legal
Jill Scott sued
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 8 February 2010
R&B singer and ‘No 1 Ladies Detective Agency’ star Jill Scott has been sued by her long-time record label, LA-based indie Hidden Beach Records.
The lawsuit was launched last week, and seemingly follows Scott’s decision last October to leave the label after a ten year partnership. The label’s founder, Steve McKeever, seems offended by Scott’s decision to leave his roster, but is suing because he says the singer still owes his company three more albums.
McKeever rightly recognises that Scott will argue she has no outstanding commitments to Hidden Beach because of that quirk of Californian law which allows artists to get out of exclusivity agreements with studios or labels after seven years. However, the label man argues that said laws say artists who break contracts using the seven year get out still have a duty to compensate their label for any financial loss. It’s those losses he is suing for.
But Scott’s people argue her decision to leave Hidden Beach was well within California’s laws on artist contracts, and that she has no legal obligation to pay McKeever any compensation.
The rep told Billboard: “The lawsuit filed on 3 Feb 2010 by Hidden Beach Recordings against Jill Scott has no legal merit and misrepresents the history of Ms Scott’s relationship with the label. Jill Scott has the legal right to terminate her recording contract with Hidden Beach Recordings under California’s seven year rule, where she had been a recording artist for more than ten years”.
They continued: “During her time at Hidden Beach Recordings, she released several highly successful albums. At this time, with many creative projects in the works which include music, film and television roles and product development, Ms Scott looks forward to continuing to further her artistry and building the Jill Scott brand in other creative environments”.
