Billy Joel faces $15m drummer claim
NewsA session drummer, Joseph Roderick Jr., has filed a $15 million lawsuit in Arizona against the singer-composer Bill Joel for rights in the song You May Be Right, dating back to 1979. Roderick seeks ‘all performance, mechanical royalties, publishing and sales, which includes: television, motion pictures, radio, social media, internet sales, anywhere the song ‘You May Be Right’ has been played, and future royalties as long as the song is being played and performed’.
He says: ‘Hearing the song ‘You May Be Right’ on the radio and elsewhere is not just a slap in the face, but it’s like getting slapped with a semi truck day in and day out’.
In 1979, I’m sure he signed a standard session musician contract in which he gave all rights in perpetuity throughout the universe to the copyright holder of the audio recording for all media including future technologies, and got paid a flat fee for the session(s).
I don’t see the AFM supporting him, especially if he was not credited as a writer of the song and he did not participate in a video recording.
This is sort of like an extra in the 2000 film „Gladiator“ suddenly wanting to be paid for all present and future home video devices, streaming, etc.
Agreed. There is a concept in the law known as “sitting on your rights” and at least at first glance knowing no more facts than what are stated above, this would seem to be an example. The time to bring an action about an injustice or violation of your rights that takes place in 1979 is, well, 1979. Or at least a 7-iron shot from 1979.
What took him so long?
It’s not called “sitting on your rights.” It’s called “laches.”
The statute of limitations to sue on torts is generally 3 years, and ten on contract. It’s hard to see how Roderick even gets past the statute to the point that Joel needs to raise an equitable defense.
(Yes, I am a lawyer. Recovering one).
One cannot but agree with the plaintiff that hearing Billy Joel’s music is like “getting slapped with a mini truck day and night.”
Actually a Cadillac cuz that’s all you get for your money.
Isn’t it a house in hackensack
You can also get a house out in Hackensack
I wholeheartedly disagree – but laughed my ass at that!
So this dude decided to keep getting slapped in the face for 25 years and then all of the sudden decided enough is enough? Ridiculous.
Try 45 years… even more preposterous. Why wait so long??
Sounds as if he met a lawyer in a bar.
It was a piano bar.
How about 49 years
It’s 45.
Redo your math. It is 45 years
I think that’s 45 years.
Slapp In theFace……etc…Good lyrics…I better start writing the Musikk
Hilarious! Billy Joel will make mincemeat of him. Joel’s been through this before, he won’t back down.
Whatever the merits of his claim, other reporting indicates a fatal problem… he’s representing himself.
This suit will last as long as it takes a lawyer to fly from Los Angeles to Arizona.
If he isn’t listed as a composer of the song and was only a session musician and had no other arrangement to receive royalties, he has no legal claim to anything.
I just read more details on this. The drummer says this has taken so long because he suffered a mental breakdown in 1980/1981 that took a long time to recover from. (But, 45 years?) He says he doesn’t know if it’s his drumming in the demo that was used on the final track or Liberty DeVito’s (I’m gonna have to venture a pretty strong hunch it was Liberty DeVito), but says that either way he was involved in creating the song. No offense to drummers — because they can be a key element in a lot of pop/rock music, but how many of them get writing credits? It’s not really writing, it’s arranging – but not arranging like someone who spends 14 hours writing out charts — it’s setting a groove, the drum pattern, the drive. There is no way he can prevail in this case because that would mean every drummer on every track in pop and rock and country and disco and electronic history will step forward to say they created or co-wrote cuts they were on. In fact, every musician on EVERY instrument would have a potential case. This was a verbal promise according to the drummer — a kind of “we’ll take care of you on the other end.” I feel for the guy, he’s obviously struggled with emotional/mental issues, but he’s also making statements about how different his life would be if he had been credited on the track. Billy Joel is not to blame for the last five decades of this man’s life. IF Billy Joel has a clear memory of what went on, or someone he trusts who was there remembers it – and IF the guy really DID contribute some key elements to the arrangement and feel of it, my guess is that they’ll be an out of court settlement (GJ
BJ certainly has enough bucks). And maybe even going forward they’d offer him a small slice of royalties – but going back in time and expecting BJ to cough up millions over a drummer 45 years ago possibly contributing “hey, what do you guys think of this?” It’s not gonna happen.
You nailed it. In the studio all of the musicians contribute to the final product, but they are not considered to be songwriters. Plus, there is zero proof that his drum track was on the actual recording. That’s if he could ever get past the statute of limitations.
Really, it’s been since 1979 & he’s just now filing a lawsuit? Seems to me if his claim was real he’d have filed long before now, like say 1980!
Haha
Btw it’s Biden and Harris fault
Liberty Devito was the drummer… he sued Billy in 2010 and they settled.
Truly hilarious. It seems to be a matter of record that a different drummer played on the original release, 1980.
Wasn’t Liberty with him during those sessions?
Yes, Liberty was the drummer on the album. And no way producer Phil Ramone decided to keep a drum track, featuring an unknown drummer, from a demo, recorded in some no name studio in Arizona. I’ve worked with Phil. Thats a non-starter. In addition, drums are considered part of an arrangement, not a copyright.
And Liberty himself didnt make $15M off those tracks. Or that album. Not by a long shot .
Has he really harboured a grudge for 45 years? How strange. I doubt there is any mileage in this legally, but if he’s representing himself, what on earth made him do that after 45 years??
I’ve looked further into the news item; he claims to have put down drums on a demo in 1979, and thus created the ‘feel’, and is thus ‘due writers fees’, regardless of the final player.
It’s important to hang on to recording ‘points’; I made a few commercial recordings, a dozen or so, took a tiny % slice, and still get yearly royalties, 15-20 years on. Makes up for the the couple of sessions that didn’t pay a bean.
He files the lawsuit NOW? What took him so long?
You say it’s a meritless claim?
You may be right.
You may be right… HE MUST BE CRAZY or a lunatic…. my guess is either it’s a publicity scam to try to get noticed and a gig banging on the drums… or hoping for a cash settlement to shut him up… Most likely he is just a dumbass
45 years years later, this drummer is suing Billy Joel for one song, in which he was one of 5 people in the band? I am sure that he was perfectly happy when he was getting paid whatever amount agreed up to the time. Not to mention the million of dollars that he was paid during the multiple years on tour with Mr. Joel. Additionally, why is it, you don’t see any other band members suing Billy Joel or complaining the blush life, given to them because of the hard work that they have put in over the past 55 years with Billy Joel.
It would be interesting to see if the drummer has anything to do with writing the song or with any other song.
My guess is that this guy, blew his fortune on frivolous things or giving money to family and friends and now he is going broke. Good luck trying to sue Mr. Joel, I don’t see it happening.
Maybe the crux of his legal argument will be “it may just be a lunatic you’re looking for”.
What is his claim? Did he write part of the song Or was he just session drummer?
Another nuisance lawsuit tying up American jurisprudence. Trump plays this game hoping the defendant backs down. Problem is Joel can buy and sell him many times over. Tossed out of court with prejudice.