(Did you even know that he was experiencing injustice?) I don't know if anyone was following this story as closely as I was (except for maybe Fogerty himself), but I'm writing with a fantastic update about a copyright victory!
John Fogerty (far right) is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter; most famously, he is the founder of the Southern rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. In a conference presentation that I gave when I was doing my dissertation research, I lamented the tyranny of copyright. Most of my argument and explanation focused on the unreasonably long terms of copyright protection, but I mentioned John Fogerty in this presentation, too, to illustrate another injustice: due to complicated contracts and greedy corporations, it is not uncommon for a songwriter or musician to not own the rights to their own music. I had read an article in the early 2000s about Fogerty wanting to release a greatest hits album, but being unable to do so because he was no longer with the record company that he had signed with when he was in CCR. That company still held the rights to all of his music, and wouldn't allow him to re-release any of those tracks.
You can find more specific details here and here, but let me present a quick summary: Fogerty signed a terrible contract with music executive Saul Zaentz in 1967, who retained control of the publishing rights of all of his music. (Advice to young musicians: consult a lawyer before signing anything!) He tried unsuccessfully to fight the contract for decades, while Zaentz made a lot of money, taking all of CCR's royalties. Another company called Concord took control of the rights in 2004 when it bought Zaentz's company, and was able to reinstate Fogerty's royalties, but it still didn't give him full control of his own music. Last month, Fogerty was finally able to purchase the rights from Concord and regain the majority of control over his own songs. A copyright victory!
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