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Love Wins Major Victory And Right To Proceed In Universal Lawsuit
LOS ANGELES, CA--In a stunning setback for Vivendi Universal, Judge Fumiko Wasserman has ruled that Courtney Love can proceed to trial with the most damaging claims in her case against the French utiltiy and entertainment conglomerate. "This is an historic case: no artist has ever gone this far in litigation and no record company has ever faced charges as serious as these," said A. Barry Cappello, Love's attorney. A jury will now be allowed to hear evidence on the ten most damaging claims from Love's original cross-complaint filed on February 28th. The new rulings add six causes of action to the four causes granted in the judge's initial ruling in June. The judge has given Love and her atttorney, A. Barry Cappello, leave to amend the remaining five causes of action if they so choose. The new causes of action include claims against Universal involving the California 7-year law, breach of contract, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. "The 7-year law is now on trial," said Love. "While I believe the California legislature will do the right thing and repeal this unfair and oppressive law, this ruling gives us an opportunity for a court to end these record company abuses once and for all." Record companies convinced the California Legislature in 1987 to pass a law that granted them an exception to the Labor Code rule that prohibits any employer from enforcing a personal services contract after seven years. Popularly known as the "de Havilland Law" because Olivia de Havilland established its principles in a 1945 lawsuit against Warner Bros. Pictures, that section of the labor code gives all Californians the freedom to seek new employment and test their worth on the open market after seven years. The 1987 exception to the de Havilland Law gave record companies the right to sue for damages if an artist terminated his or her contract after seven years, granting them an exception that no other citizens of California face. Since passage of the law, no artist has successfully terminated their contract under the seven-year rule. Companies have utilized the threat of "damages" to force artists to renegotiate rather than offer their services in an open market. Judge Wasserman also allowed in several critical new claims involving breach of contract, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty involving the industry's contract and royalty payment practices. The latter two are especially important because they allow Love to seek punitive damages and significantly increase Universal's liability. "The record companies' accounting practices will finally be exposed," said Cappello. "Their royalty system will be seen for the fraud it is. An overwhelming number of artists from all different music genres from pop, to rock, to country, to rap have called Courtney and said that they're behind her. When she wins this case, hundreds of artists will follow her lead and the music industry will be changed forever." The ruling also expands the judge's previous decision to allow claims regarding Universal's assignment of Love's recording contract. If Universal is found liable for violating Hole's contract by assigning its masters to Interscope Records, the company now faces the possibility that the court will order the return of Hole's masters to Love. "Industry lawyers and managers told me over and over again that this case would never get to trial and that no court would rule on these problems that everyone agrees cripple growth in the music business. I'm glad that I've been able to stick it out and that these issues are finally coming to light," said Love. "I very much appreciate the support of my manager James Barber and Barry Cappello. James has been striving throughout this case to make the music business a more ethical and safe place for artists of all stripes." "Universal is now on notice," said Cappello. "These are issues that all major record companies have ignored for years. Now they will be forced for the first time to explain their business practices to a jury and I can't imagine they'll be pleased with the result."
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