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Business News Legal
RZA sued for royalties by former collaborator
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 19 December 2012
RZA has been sued by a Dutch artist who claims that the producer owes her royalties on fourteen tracks they collaborated on between 2004 and 2011.
According to TMZ, Thea Van Seijen says that she previously failed to demand her cut of royalties out of fear that she’d damage her own music career if she fell out with the Wu-Tang man. But with that partnership now seemingly at an end anyway, the vocalist is seeking a cut of the action from the RZA-produced songs on which she appears.
But a spokesman for RZA has told Pitchfork that the legal claim is baseless, accusing Van Seijen of trying to “drag the producer’s name through the mud” despite him having “done nothing but help” the singer over the years.
RZA’s publicist said: “RZA and his entire family have done nothing but help Thea Van Seijen over the years. He even welcomed her into his home and gave her all the resources and money she needed to start a career in music (and eat!). She was a streetwalker in Sweden brought to his attention by a family member many years ago, who literally pulled her off the street and encouraged her talent as a singer. I met her back then. She was eager and just trying to sing”.
Continuing: “RZA helped her by collaborating with her and put her on a handful of tracks as a ‘work for hire’. Very common in the music industry. This is the second time she has tried to knock RZA down for money she isn’t owed. She is a fish out of water. She has no idea what she is doing and thinks she can build a case for herself in the media and have it hold up in court. Meanwhile, she is dragging RZA’s name through the mud conveniently positioned during a time when his film career is blossoming”.
