In December 2020, Bob Dylan sold the music publishing rights for his entire song catalog to Universal Music Publishing – a business valued at more than $ 300 million. A new lawsuit was filed today by the wife and editor of Dylan collaborator Jacques Levy, who co-wrote songs from the 1976 album Wish (including “Hurricane” and “Isis”). The action seeks $ 7.25 million, The New York Post reports and documents seen by Pitchfork confirm.
The lawsuit claims that Dylan’s team owes Levy’s family 35% of the income from the songs Levy co-wrote. Furthermore, it notes that Dylan’s team “refused to forward the [Levy’s family] its legitimate part of the revenue and / or revenue obtained from the sale of the catalog with respect to the compositions. “
“This lawsuit is a sad attempt to profit unfairly from the recent catalog sale,” Dylan’s lawyer, Orin Snyder, said in a statement to Pitchfork. “The plaintiffs received everything that was due to them. We are confident that we will win. And when we do, we will hold the plaintiffs and their lawyers responsible for bringing this case without merit. “
Pitchfork contacted Universal Music Group, which is listed alongside Dylan as a defendant in the lawsuit.