Milbank represented Broadcast Music, Inc. “(“BMI”) in a suit filed by Ken Roberts, the former owner of the Los Angeles-based radio station KROQ and former manager of Sylvester Stewart (known as “Sly Stone”). BMI is a performing rights organization that acts on behalf of songwriters and others who create music to collect payment whenever their music is played in public. Sly Stone is a famous performer and songwriter who wrote many popular songs in the late 1960s and 1970s, including “Everyday People,” “Dance to the Music,” “Family Affair,” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).” Mr. Stone entered into various affiliation agreements from 1964 through 2013 whereby BMI would collect and pay him royalties for the public playing of the songs he wrote.
Mr. Roberts, in a claim pursued by his successor in interest, Virginia Pope, alleged that Mr. Stone entered into a 1976 Irrevocable Assignment of Monies pursuant to which Mr. Stone assigned to Mr. Roberts his right to receive payment of his BMI royalties. Mr. Roberts claimed that that he had designated his entity Majoken, Inc. to receive the quarterly BMI royalty payments as of 1979. After the IRS and California Franchise Tax Board placed tax levies on Mr. Stone’s BMI royalties by at least the early 1980s, Mr. Roberts did not take any action to inquire about or obtain payment of Mr. Stone’s BMI royalties. Mr. Roberts alleged that in 1996 the tax levies were lifted, and another manager/employer of Mr. Stone (Jerry Goldstein, Even Street Productions, and related entities and individuals (the “Goldstein Defendants”) sent BMI a letter instructing it to pay Mr. Stone’s royalties to another Majoken, Inc. entity controlled by the Goldstein Defendants, that was unrelated to Mr. Roberts.
Milbank succeeded on various pre-trial motions to sever the claims involving the Goldstein Defendants and to exclude the deposition testimony of Mr. Roberts, who was never cross-examined by BMI, to protect BMI against a violation of its due process rights. Milbank offered the testimony of critical witnesses who testified about Mr. Roberts’s statements by late 2008 regarding his belief that Mr. Stone, not Mr. Roberts, was entitled to receive all of his BMI royalties.
The Los Angeles, California jury trial took place over five days in September 2014. Milbank Partner Linda Dakin-Grimm and Special Counsel Delilah Vinzon from Milbank’s Los Angeles Litigation Department represented BMI at trial, with a team including associates Mike Sheen and Lisa Northrup who handled pre-trial and trial issues. After four days of trial, the jury deliberated for one hour and entered a verdict in favor of BMI.
