Music producer Joel Diamond, and various companies he controls, have been sued by both Gloria Gaynor and Robin Randall in a dispute over the copyright ownership of various songs and recordings.
The circumstances behind the Gaynor and Randall disagreements are different. Gaynor disputes the status of a 1983 agreement, while Randall claims Diamond fraudulently coerced her late mother into signing a deal in the early 2000s.
Gaynor did sign a record deal with Diamond in 1983. He claims that that deal was a ‘work for hire’ agreement which, under US copyright law, would make Diamond the default owner of any copyrights created via the partnership.
As a result Diamond claims ownership of various recording and/or publishing rights in songs recorded by Gaynor, including ‘I've Been Watching You’, ‘You're All I Need to Get By’ and ‘I Am What I Am’.
However, Gaynor insists that she did not have a work for hire relationship with Diamond and, therefore, she retained ownership of all her rights, which Diamond has been exploiting for decades without properly reporting usage or paying royalties.
He also registered himself as a co-writer of at least one song and yet, says Gaynor’s lawsuit, “At no time did Gaynor write a song with Diamond”. Indeed, to Gaynor’s best knowledge, it adds. “Diamond has never been a songwriter”.
Reading through the contract that was signed in 1983 would presumably help clarify the status of that agreement, but Gaynor doesn’t have a copy and Diamond has so far failed to share a copy of it with the musician. The lawsuit adds, “Despite requests, the recording agreement has not been provided to Gaynor”.
Randall co-wrote songs with her mother Judithe. In the early 2000s, Judithe became ill and was eventually diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In April 2001 she started receiving care at the Thalians Clinic in LA.
The lawsuit claims that, at that time, Diamond visited Judithe and “coerced” her into signing deals assigning him rights in songs she had co-written with her daughter.
Says the lawsuit, “By misrepresenting the purpose and terms of the agreements to a gravely infirm woman, Diamond induced Judithe Randall to sign over her interest in her copyrights to various works to which the rightful successor in interest is Robin Randall”.
Diamond has also allegedly claimed co-writer credits on some of those songs too. The lawsuit adds, “Diamond has listed himself as co-writer and owner of songs in which he had no actual involvement and were in fact written by Robin and/or Judith Randall”.
The lawsuit asks the courts to deem any contracts between Diamond and either Gaynor or the Randalls to be breached and terminated, and that the musicians own all the rights in their respective works. They also want Diamond to pay damages for, among other things, copyright infringement.