These Dallas Lawyers Teamed Up to Get Session Musicians $45 Million in Unpaid Royalties
Eric Zukowski is a musician and lawyer who won a class action lawsuit that distributed $45 million for session musicians.Chastity “Chaz” Marie was fresh out of high school when she and her sister Stephanie got hired as background singers on country superstar LeAnn Rimes' album. The Texans were living in Nashville as songwriters in the late '90s and were known as the singing duo the Marie Sisters. Their sound was then considered contemporary country music.
Twenty years later, Marie was doing a private gig with her friend, Texan singer-songwriter Jon Christopher Davis, at the Sheraton Hotel in McKinney, when he pulled her aside and asked whether she’d spoken with Eric Zukoski, a musician who daylights as a Dallas-based attorney focused on intellectual property. He frequently represented financial institutions but has also been known to do work for musicians.
They filed a class action against AFM President Ray Hair, who had been serving for 10 years and was also a trustee, and five other trustees who were in charge of making sure that they distributed money to union and nonunion members alike. Instead of distributing the money, the lawsuit claimed, they were “sitting on” about $45 million that hadn’t been distributed.
Now Zukoski and Mandel are trying to spread the word to let other non-featured performers know that they may be owed money too. After contacting the fund, Zukoski received some paperwork that showed Harrington was owed money and eventually received a five-figure check for the musician. Mandel says his passion lies in helping ordinary people get justice in cases of abuse by large corporations. In this case, the ordinary people were the non-featured performers.
Mandel and Zukoski pointed out in the lawsuit that SoundExchange, as the representative of the copyright owners of sound recordings, and the AFM had appointed a fund to receive royalties from SoundExchange and distribute them to the non-featured musicians.
The situation had gotten so bad that the fund was researching and distributing royalties years behind schedule, they say. Zukoski says that there was a rule that if the funds weren’t collected by non-featured performers in 60 days, the money reverted back to the fund. “But they say they weren’t going to keep it,” he adds.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Hennessey guns for speed record with 300mph+ Venom F5 Roadster | AutocarAmerica's 1817bhp hypercar gets convertible treatment – but costs nearly $1 million more than coupé
Read more »
Fire at chemical plant in Southlake - KRLD All LocalPlus, The Rangers let go of another staff member and a Dallas lawyer is sentenced to 5 years.
Read more »
Dallas attorney given 5-year prison sentence for drug money laundering schemeA high-profile Dallas lawyer has been sentenced to five years in prison in a scheme to launder drug money.
Read more »
Phoenix Suns' 2022-23 NBA season schedule includes 34 games on national televisionThe Phoenix Suns' 2022-23 NBA season will begin against the same team its 2021-22 season ended, the Dallas Mavericks.
Read more »
LeBron James Agrees to 2-Year, $97.1 Million Contract Extension With the Lakers, Reports SayLeBron James reportedly agrees to a two-year $97.1 million contract extension.
Read more »
To challenge for 4A state title, Dallas-area teams must first escape powerhouse regionClass 4A Division I got a jolt in February when Argyle, Melissa and Midlothian Heritage moved up to 5A Division II in the UIL’s realignment. That removed...
Read more »