Update:
On Monday, November 9, 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court announced
that they would not hear the case, thereby upholding the lower
courts rulings.
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Kingsmen Win 'Louie Louie' Rights
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Kingsmen, the Portland, Ore. garage
band that recorded the 1963 megahit "Louie Louie," are going to be
paid
again for their work on the infamous song.
A federal appeals court Friday (April 10) awarded the group the rights
to
the record after agreeing that it had unfairly missed out on royalties
generated by one of the most popular rock songs in history.
"The parties do not dispute that the Kingsmen never received a single
penny of the considerable royalties that 'Louie Louie' has produced
over the past 30 years," a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court
of Appeals wrote in its unanimous opinion.
The Kingsmen signed away the rights to their version of "Louie Louie"
in 1968 for nine percent of future licensing fees and profits. They
were never paid, however, and in 1993 members of the group finally
sued the record companies that now hold the rights to the record.
The court's ruling said that that action constituted a "recision," or
cancellation, of the 1968 contract agreement and meant that money from
uses of the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie" should now go to the
band.
"The Kingsmen are entitled to all income derived from the exploitation
of the recordings following Sept. 29, 1993," the court said, upholding
a lower court's ruling.
"Louie Louie," with its indecipherable lyrics and catchy guitar
chords, has been covered countless times and used in movies,
commercials and compilation records. The FBI once investigated
the
song amid speculation as to its possibly immoral nature.
Although the song was written in 1955 by the late Richard Berry, it
was the Kingsmen's wild, shouted version of "Louie Louie" that
propelled it to fame.
Reuters/Variety