A New York Supreme Court judge has tossed out the case over the co-ownership of the songs on the 'Like a Rolling Stone' singer's 1976 album 'Desire' filed by his co-writer's widow.
- July 31, 2021
AceShowbiz - A royalties lawsuit filed against Bob Dylan over the songs on his 1976 album "Desire" has been tossed.
The widow of Jacques Levy, Dylan's co-writer on seven "Desire" tracks, sued the folk-rock icon for over $7 million (£5 million) earlier this year (2021), claiming her late husband had a deal with the singer for a 35 per cent stake in the income the songs generated.
As a result, she alleged she was owed millions from the 2020 sale of Dylan's song catalogue to Universal Music Group bosses.
New York Supreme Court judge Barry Ostrager threw her case out on Friday, July 30 after lawyers for Dylan and Universal Music Group argued that Levy was nothing more than an "employee for hire," offering proof in the form of a 1974 contract. The lawyers argued Levy, who died in 2004, did not have co-ownership of the songs.
"Upon review of the 1975 Agreement and the competing arguments, the Court finds the Agreement is clear and unambiguous on its face when read as a whole. For the reasons explained here, the Court determines that the plain meaning of the 1975 Agreement is that the Dylan Defendants owned all copyrights to the Compositions," Ostrager ruled.
"We're pleased with today's decision," Dylan's attorney Orin Snyder said in a statement. "As we said when the case was filed, this lawsuit was a sad attempt to profit off the recent catalog sale. We're glad it's now over."
When contacted by The Post, Levy estate's lawyer Aaron Richard Golub claimed that they are not giving up just yet. "We think we have a strong case, and we plan to appeal," he stated.
