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Ozzy Osbourne sued over allegedly unpaid royalties by former collaborator

By | Published on Wednesday 10 August 2016

Ozzy Osbourne

Your main man Ozzy Osbourne is being sued by a former songwriting pal over allegedly unpaid royalties. Bob Daisley, who co-wrote a number of songs on Osbourne’s early solo albums, reckons that a 2014 audit of his former collaborator’s company Blizzard Music Limited showed that unapproved deductions were being made before the royalties he was due were calculated. Yep, that old classic.

The dispute centres in particular on royalties due on ‘Crazy Train’, the first single off Osbourne’s 1980 debut solo album ‘Blizzard Of Ozz’. Daisley has sued in the US for $2 million in allegedly unpaid royalties, filing his lawsuit in Nevada on Monday.

The litigation states that “although royalties have been paid to Daisley over the years, an audit conducted in 2014 showed that Osbourne and his company had been improperly deducting undisclosed fees before distributing royalties to Daisley and improperly withholding Daisley’s rightful share of royalties owed under the publishing agreements for the commercial exploitations of the songs”.

The lawsuit goes on: “While Mr Osbourne was benefiting from the songs co-authored by our client, the audit shows that he was systematically short-changing Mr Daisley. Mr Daisley had no choice but to bring this action to secure his fair share of the proceeds those songs have generated”.

But a rep for Osbourne denies the allegations, telling Rolling Stone: “For the past 36 years, Mr Daisley has been receiving bi-annual royalty statements and cheques from Blizzard Music, totalling in the millions of dollars, which have been routinely cashed. Mr Daisley has audited Blizzard Music accounts over the years using several different auditing firms who found no discrepancies. He has previously filed lawsuits in the UK and the US and has lost on each occasion”.

The spokesperson went on: “We understand that Mr Daisley is now in retirement and that these funds are his main source of income, so it is his right to be diligent with his money, but after 36 years, this is tantamount to harassment. We would have hoped that after 36 years that Mr Daisley would have lost his unhealthy personal obsession and resentment towards Mr Osbourne’s success. Blizzard Music and Mr Osbourne plan to vigorously defend these proceedings”.



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