I had the pleasure of seeing George Clinton and the P Funk perform, many a moons ago, and the band was 100% led by the charisma of their vocalist and lead performer, George Clinton. It saddens me to hear that he has, like so many performers, been (allegedly) swindled by his manager and business partner out of the copyright rights to his own music.
There is a long history in the music industry of musicians passionate and focused on creating art and the managers that take advantage of their lack of legal or business acumen, and trick them into signing away their rights to their creations. It is a grey legal area, often muddled by alcohol or drugs or just “sign this so you can get to doing the work you enjoy”.
Maybe it is the artist in me, but I trust the artist over the manager, any day, when it comes to these lawsuits. Legal decisions will (hopefully) find the truth. But when a manager owns 90% of a performer’s catalogue, something is fishy. George Clinton may have signed away the rights, under false pretenses or not, but I would guess there was a strong amount of manipulation from a business-focused individual who cannot create taking advantage of the creator, who might not have fully understood what was being asked.
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