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Gloria Gaynor is suing her former producer with allegations of breach of contract, copyright infringement, and unpaid royalties.
Singer Gloria Gaynor, best known for her 1978 hit “I Will Survive,” is suing her former music producer Joel Diamond, alleging that he and his companies breached their contract and infringed her copyright, failing to pay her and songwriter Robin Randall royalties owed. The lawsuit seeks to terminate Diamond’s contracts with both Gaynor and Randall, as well as at least $2 million in damages, legal fees, and royalties owed.
The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court on Friday, July 26, says Gaynor initially entered into a contract with Diamond in 1983. According to Gaynor, Diamond has claimed this is a work-for-hire contract, which would mean all rights to the songs Gaynor created while under contract belong to Diamond. Gaynor and her legal team say this is not true, asserting that she continues to own all rights to the songs she has created and performed.
Robin Randall, a plaintiff in the lawsuit alongside Gaynor, worked as a songwriting team with her mother, Judithe Randall, until the latter’s death in 2002. Robin Randall alleges that Diamond committed fraud in 2000 by convincing her aging mother to sign over ownership rights to the songs the duo had written, while Judithe Randall had begun showing signs of “mental incapacitation.” The elder Randall was hospitalized in 2001 and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
“Diamond fraudulently induced, and otherwise wrongfully caused Judithe Randall to sign over her ownership rights to many copyrighted works, including but not limited to ‘Forever Friends,’ ‘Just Friends,’ ‘Close My Eyes,’ and ‘Two Souls One Breath,’” reads the complaint. “The contracts were fraudulently and wrongfully obtained by inducing an incapacitated person to sign documents whose content and purpose she was incapable of understanding, and to execute those documents for both herself and her daughter without her daughter’s knowledge.”
The case is already made complicated by the issue of Robin Randall’s mother’s health over 20 years ago, but for Gaynor’s part, there’s an apparent lack of documentation that further muddles things. “The precise dates and nature of the agreements between defendants and plaintiff Gaynor as well as defendants and third parties are currently unknown to Gaynor, as this information is in the sole possession, custody, and control of defendants,” despite alleged requests for this information by Gaynor and her representatives.
“Despite Gaynor’s repeated requests for an accounting thereof, defendants have failed to pay any royalties, provide transparency as to who Gaynor’s music was licensed to or any demonstration that Gaynor’s music was protected,” the complaint reads. “Despite requests, the recording agreement has not been provided to Gaynor[…] The recording agreement would have required for payment of royalties to Gaynor as writer and recording artist.”
Gaynor and Randall’s lawsuit alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, copyright infringement, and unjust enrichment, and asks for a declaration from the court to terminate the contracts in question. The filing also seeks at least $2 million in damages, royalties owed, and legal fees.
