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Deadmau5 sues original label over remixes

By | Published on Tuesday 27 October 2015

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Deadmau5 has sued a former business associate over allegations that she released remixes of his early work without the required permissions.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the producer – real name Joel Zimmerman – worked with Canadian label Play Records about a decade ago while he was starting out. Initially he created remixes for the company, and later signing publishing and management agreements with the firm and its co-founder Melleny Brown (aka Melleny Melody or Melleefresh).

After relocating to London in 2007, Zimmerman switched his management allegiances, and negotiated his way out of his contracts with Brown. That deal saw the producer pay a sum of money to Play Records, while also assigning ownership of some of his early songs and recordings to the company. However, that deal seemingly said that any future remixes of those tracks could not be released without his “prior written consent”.

Now, Zimmerman claims, Play has released new remixes of his early work without his OK, and has plans for future such releases. That, he reckons in a $10 million lawsuit, constitutes breach of contact, as well as infringing his trademarks and moral rights under Canadian copyright law. The former because the defendant allegedly used the artist’s registered marks on its new releases, the latter because the remixes are “not of good technical and commercial quality”.

Play Records is yet to respond.



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