Post by Selina Classen on Nov 29, 2004 22:29:50 GMT -5
Can you believe it? First it was the lady from GGITS, and now the kids (now adults) who sang in ABITW are seeking royalties. Here is the article:
Twenty-three former students of the Islington Green School in London have
brought suit for what they claim are unpaid royalities for their work on Pink
Floyd's hit single, "Another Brick in the Wall."
Working with royalties expert Peter Rowan, the former students are appealing to
a music royalties society for what could amount to approximately £200 per
person.
"Some of the kids have put in a claim for royalties due to session musicians for
recordings played on the radio or broadcast since 1997," says Rowan. "We are
going through the process of claiming now."
The suit hinges on the Copyright Act of 1997, which guarantees session musicians
a percentage of royalties paid for broadcast rights.
So far, the only compensation for the students' work has been a £1,000 payment
awarded to the school at the time the recording was made in 1979, along with a
platinum record of the song given to the school.
The suit might be the last chapter in the unusual story of how this group of 13-
and 14-year-old music students ended up singing the subversive chorus on one of
Floyd's most popular songs.
The group was brought to nearby Brittania Row Studios by their music teacher,
Alun Renshaw, at the request of the band's management and without permission of
the headmistress, Margaret Maden.
"I viewed it as an interesting sociological thing and also a wonderful
opportunity for the kids to work in a live recording studio," says Renshaw, now
living in Australia. "We had a week where we practised around the piano at
school, then we recorded it at the studios. I sort of mentioned it to the
headteacher, but didn't give her a piece of paper with the lyrics on it."
"Alun Renshaw was a seriously good if somewhat anarchic music teacher," recalls
Maden. "I was only told about it after the event, which didn't please me. But on
balance it was part of a very rich musical education."
Maden refused to allow the students to appear on television singing the words
that the Inner London Education Authority had termed "scandalous."
Lack of video evidence has made the students' case harder to prove.
Twenty-three former students of the Islington Green School in London have
brought suit for what they claim are unpaid royalities for their work on Pink
Floyd's hit single, "Another Brick in the Wall."
Working with royalties expert Peter Rowan, the former students are appealing to
a music royalties society for what could amount to approximately £200 per
person.
"Some of the kids have put in a claim for royalties due to session musicians for
recordings played on the radio or broadcast since 1997," says Rowan. "We are
going through the process of claiming now."
The suit hinges on the Copyright Act of 1997, which guarantees session musicians
a percentage of royalties paid for broadcast rights.
So far, the only compensation for the students' work has been a £1,000 payment
awarded to the school at the time the recording was made in 1979, along with a
platinum record of the song given to the school.
The suit might be the last chapter in the unusual story of how this group of 13-
and 14-year-old music students ended up singing the subversive chorus on one of
Floyd's most popular songs.
The group was brought to nearby Brittania Row Studios by their music teacher,
Alun Renshaw, at the request of the band's management and without permission of
the headmistress, Margaret Maden.
"I viewed it as an interesting sociological thing and also a wonderful
opportunity for the kids to work in a live recording studio," says Renshaw, now
living in Australia. "We had a week where we practised around the piano at
school, then we recorded it at the studios. I sort of mentioned it to the
headteacher, but didn't give her a piece of paper with the lyrics on it."
"Alun Renshaw was a seriously good if somewhat anarchic music teacher," recalls
Maden. "I was only told about it after the event, which didn't please me. But on
balance it was part of a very rich musical education."
Maden refused to allow the students to appear on television singing the words
that the Inner London Education Authority had termed "scandalous."
Lack of video evidence has made the students' case harder to prove.
