Rolling Stones filmmaker asks court to strike evidence
A British filmmaker has asked a New York court to impose sanctions on the record labels accusing him of infringing copyrights related to compositions by The Rolling Stones.
In a memorandum submitted to the court on Friday, April 8, Robert Carruthers and Coda Publishing requested that the court strike documents proving ownership of the IP be stricken from the case as they were turned over “too late”.
Carruthers claimed that label ABKCO waited until September 2021 to disclose documents proving ownership of certain Rolling Stones compositions—nine months after discovery closed.
It eventually filed the documents alongside a motion for summary judgment in the case.
The memorandum said: “Far from being copyright litigation newbies… ABKCO certainly understood when it filed the present case that it had the burden of proving it actually owned valid copyrights to the Stones compositions in question.
“Despite this… ABKCO inexplicably failed to produce during discovery ten documents (the ‘Pittenger Documents’) that are critical linchpins in its purported chain of title to the Stones compositions.”
The defendants said that the publishers were guilty of “extended and deliberate misconduct” and also asked the court to award the defendant's costs to cover costs related to the filing of the memorandum.
Case history
Several record labels, including Universal Music Group, Capitol Records and ABKCO Music sued Carruthers and Coda Publishing in 2019, claiming that they had made documentaries that infringe their IP.
In the original complaint, the labels said that the documentaries were “nothing more than a delivery system for intentionally infringed materials”.
The films in question feature compositions and live performances of artists such as The Rolling Stones.
ABKCO asserted ownership of 17 compositions written by the band and has previously filed litigation over these songs.
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