LOS ANGELES — The original lead singer of the Village People has fought off an effort to keep him from regaining rights to “Y.M.C.A.” and other group hits.
A federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday rejected a lawsuit by two music publishers that argued Victor Willis had no right to regain at least partial ownership of 33 songs he co-wrote under contract. It’s the first test of a decades-old copyright provision and could mean millions in additional royalties for Willis.
The former San Diego resident tells U-T San Diego that the ruling benefits all songwriters.
But Stewart Levy, an attorney for Scorpio Music and Can’t Stop Productions, tells the New York Times that it doesn’t lay out how much Willis will get and the case is far from over.
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