This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Business News Legal
Sony Music must tell Kesha who it interviewed in Dr Luke investigation
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 3 July 2018
A judge in New York has ordered Sony Music to disclose to Kesha’s legal team who it interviewed when it conducted an internal investigation into the conduct of producer Dr Luke, with which it had a joint venture business.
One time collaborators Kesha and Luke have, of course, been involved in a long-running multi-layered legal battle in which she accused him of rape and he accused her of lying about his conduct in a bid to get out of contractual commitments to his companies. The ongoing legal battle is now focused on Luke’s defamation lawsuit against Kesha.
As part of their preparation for that case, the latter’s legal team asked for information about the investigation Sony conducted in the wake of their client’s allegations against the producer. For its part, Sony said that the list of names of who its lawyers questioned as part of their investigation was protected by attorney-client privilege and therefore couldn’t be divulged.
But New York judge Jennifer Schecter, after considering the ins and outs of when attorney-client privilege may or may not apply in scenarios like this, ultimately rejected Sony’s argument. She said that the major had failed to demonstrate that sharing the list of names with Kesha’s people “would actually divulge legal thought processes or strategy”. The music firm now has 20 days to hand over the list.
