George Clinton is suing his former business partner for $100 million for allegedly stealing the copyrights to over 90% of his music catalog.
Funk legend and Parliament-Funkadelic leader George Clinton joined civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump outside the iconic Apollo Theater on March 11 to announce his lawsuit against his former business partner, Armen Boladian, and his Bridgeport Music company. The lawsuit, filed in Florida District Court, accuses Boladian, Bridgeport, Westbound Records, Nine Records, Southfield Music, and Eastbound Records of unlawfully continuing to profit from Clinton’s music, Variety reports.
During a press conference, Clinton explained that the lawsuit is part of his effort to reclaim ownership of his music catalog to provide generational wealth for his family.
“I’m fighting for my life’s work and to ensure future generations of artists are treated fairly,” Clinton said.
“When you’re young and just starting out in the music industry, it’s easy for others to take advantage of you. My eyes are wide open now, and I look forward to shining a light on the truth and exploitation of musicians.”
Though a longtime business partner of Clinton, Boladian is accused of withholding millions of dollars in royalties and engaging in fraudulent practices, the lawsuit states. Clinton alleges that between 1982 and 1985, Boladian manipulated multiple agreements to claim additional rights to his catalog, using fake names and pseudonyms to dilute royalty shares.
Boladian earned millions from filing
numerous lawsuits in 2001 over the commercial use of Clinton’s music. The current suit highlights that Clinton was not a plaintiff in those cases and did not receive any of the millions Boladian earned from them.“These songs we’re talking about is my history,” Clinton said. “I have to fight for them; I have to make sure that I did not do all of this my whole life and have my family here, not get what’s due to them, what they inherit.”
“We don’t have a chance to pass down 40 acres and mules to our families. We do not have the copyrights for the songs. So I’m here along with Ben and partners to make sure that Armen does not get what we worked so hard for.”
This isn’t the first time Clinton has taken legal action against Boladian. In 2001, Clinton lost a copyright lawsuit when a Florida judge ruled that music written between 1976 and 1983 belonged to Boladian’s Bridgeport Music. However, in 2021, Boladian lost a defamation suit he filed over statements made in Clinton’s 2014 autobiography Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You?: A Memoir. In the book, Clinton accused Boladian of “fabricating documents,” “robbing” him of his songs, and “fraudulently backdating and altering” their contracts.
“This is just the latest in a series of lawsuits that Mr. Clinton has filed against Bridgeport and Armen
Boladian over the last 30 years raising the same exact issues,” Attorney Richard Busch, who represents Boladian and Bridgeport, said in a statement. “He has lost each and every time, including in the very courthouse in which he has filed this latest lawsuit. We will obviously, therefore, be moving to dismiss this lawsuit and will be seeking sanctions.”RELATED CONTENT: Music Icons Speak on ‘Black Genius’ Sly Stone In Upcoming Questlove Documentary