Stuart v Barrett, 1994, EMLR 448

Citation:Stuart v Barrett, 1994, EMLR 448

Rule of thumb 1: Do drummers have a right to share in any profits made by a piece of music? Yes, they are deemed to be a significant part of it and deemed to be entitled to share.

Rule of thumb 2: Do people who are part of a performance have a right to share in the money generated by it? If their contribution is deemed significant then they do have a right to some of the profits generated.

Judgment:

Where people have made a clear and enclosed contribution to a piece of literary work then is not deemed to be too abstract. Where a drummer has made a contribution to a recording of a song, they are entitled to their share of the revenues when this recording is sold. The drummer is not just paid for their time in doing this as this is deemed to be a material contribution to the song, ‘I also have no doubt that in principle a drummer may claim copyright in a piece of music if, as here, he had collaborated with the other members of the group to produce an original piece of music. Whilst the player of tuned percussion might be more readily recognisable as a contributor to a musical composition than a drummer, in my Judgment it would be a misrepresentation of the drummer’s contribution to a musical composition in contemporary music, whether pop or otherwise, to reject his contribution in principle. I listened to some of the tapes produced in Court and I am in no doubt about the significance of the drummer to the whole of the work. The work is given shape and drive by the drummer and a good drummer, as I accept the plaintiff is, can significantly influence the whole composition’, Judge Morison QC, 460

Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.