Although John Fogerty isn’t very wealthy, he might be feeling more fortunate after this week. The founding member of Creedence Clearwater Revival now holds the world publication rights to the songs of the renowned rock group after a 50-year court fight.
It happened when Mr. Fogerty, 77, acquired the majority of Concord Records’ ownership of the band’s repertoire, which the label had held since 2004.
He tweeted, “As of January this year, I own my own songs again.
“I firmly believed that this would never be possible. I’m at last back with my music after 50 years.”
For the first time, Mr. Fogerty has authority over 65 Creedence Clearwater Revival copyrights, including songs like Bad Moon Rising, Have You Ever Seen The Rain, Proud Mary, and Fortunate Son, thanks to his new majority interest. He still retains ownership of the rights to his solo compositions.
Along with his older brother Tom, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook, the rocker created the group in 1968. He served as its lead singer, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter.
The California-born group had five top-10 albums and nine top-10 singles on the Billboard charts, apparently outselling the Beatles in 1969 in terms of record sales.
They split up in 1972, and in 1993 they were admitted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
However, the protracted legal battle that started after late music tycoon Saul Zaentz signed a young Mr. Fogerty and his band to his Fantasy Records label in the middle of the 1960s has dominated decades of its frontman’s life.
The publishing and distribution rights belonged to Fantasy. Mr. Fogerty, who insulted and sued Zaentz, also claimed he lost money as a result of the label’s disastrous investments and absorption of his royalties.
When the label was sold to Concord in 2004, the royalties that Mr. Fogerty had not received in about 25 years were immediately increased and reinstated.
The performer and the firm recently struck a contract for an undisclosed price. Concord will continue to manage Mr. Fogerty’s portion of the catalog for an undetermined period of time while keeping the CCR master recordings that are already in its collection.
“The father [of these songs] is me. They are mine, “Thursday, the musician said with Billboard. They should never have been removed in the first place.
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