Legal Updates

A long-term agreement between an artist and a producer will be construed pursuant to the behavior of the parties over the years

September 24, 2019
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An artist and music creator terminated an exclusive distribution agreement for his creations by a musical producer after discovering that over the years he did not receive all the funds he was supposed to receive for performances and musical albums produced together. Inter alia the artist demanded full data from the financial books of the producer.
The Court held that the agreement was breached by the producer and the artist is entitled to receive the financial books. A long term representation agreement of an artist is an agreement that will be construed not only pursuant to the language of the contract signed but also the agreements between the parties created during the performance of the agreement, including those entered into by continuous behavior. Here, the behavior of the parties shows that the correct interpretation of the agreement is as construed by the artiest and because the artist can not know his financial rights without receiving full data, and he was entitled to payment based on data that the producer has, the artist is entitle to full data on all his shows, their pricing and the income and expenses in such.