Procol Harum founding member Matthew Fisher yesterday won his High Court battle to win a stake in the publishing copyright of the band's most famous song 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale'. As previously reported, Fisher, who played the distinctive organ melody on the song, claimed that he also wrote that bit, and was therefore due a cut of any publishing royalties stemming from the hit, which would be quite a lot.
The band's frontman, Gary Brooker, who has a co-credit on 'Whiter Shade' alongside lyricist Keith Reid, denied that Fisher had a role in writing the organ score. Brooker claimed that he and Reid had devised that part of the song, and Fisher had simply played it. But Fisher said that while Brooker had provided an initial piece of music, he had made substantial chord changes and other alterations so that the organ melody fitted with the rest of the song, and therefore the final melody that actually appeared in the released version of the hit should belong to him. Brooker also questioned why it had taken his former bandmate so long to stake his claim to the melody - suggesting that the fact Fisher only made the claim after leaving the band, decades after the song was released, weakened his case. Fisher countered that he had always assumed that Brooker allowed him credits on other Procol Harum songs as a kind of compensation for him not having the credit he felt he deserved for 'Whiter Shade'.
Yesterday in the London courts Mr Justice Blackburne, who, conveniently, studied music as well as law when at university, sided with Fisher, although he said that he felt that given the keyboardist only wrote the organ melody he should only have a 40% stake in the overall song. He also denied Fishers' claim to back royalties - which could have been in excess of £1 million.
Needless to say Brooker, who still earns royalties off the song, and more so of late because it has proved to be a popular mobile ringtone, was not impressed with the ruling. He told reporters: "If Matthew Fisher's name ends up on my song, then mine can come off! It's hard to believe that I've worked with somebody on and off since 1967 whilst they hid such unspoken resentment. I'm relieved the trial is over, but my faith in British justice is shattered."
Fisher said: "I think I can assume that from now on I'm not going to be on Gary and Keith's Christmas card lists but I think that's a small price to pay for finally securing my rightful place in rock and roll history. I'd just like to say that it's a great pity that this matter could not have been resolved amicably".
The judge granted Brooker, who will have to pay much of Fisher's legal fees, the right to appeal. It is unclear as yet if he will do so, although his lawyers are already saying that Blackburne's ruling will set a dangerous precedent that could see numerous musicians who made alterations to songs during recordings seeking royalty cuts in retrospect.