After seven years of conflict, the two sides agreed to an agreement. A trial planned for May was dropped.
- Åge Aleksandersen and Terje Tysland entered into a settlement with the record label Warner.
- The conflict has been going on for seven years.
- The settlement gives the artists the rights to produce the most popular music from the 1980s and early 1990s, effective July 1, 2023.
- No money was paid or legal costs covered as part of the settlement.
- Warner and the artists are pleased that a solution has been found without litigation.
This was stated in a press release.
– I am very glad that we have achieved this, that we received what we asked for when it came to rights, – Alexandersen tells VG.
“The settlement means that Alexandersen and Teesland have the producer rights to the Norsk Plateselskap catalog and all of their respective albums in the Record Company’s catalog, effective July 1, 2023,” the press release reads.
The artists released their music on Norsk Plateselskap from 1980 to 1982, then Plateselskap for the next ten years.
The press release also states:
“Nothing was paid between the parties or legal costs were covered as part of the settlement.”
“Warner is very satisfied with the settlement, and is pleased on behalf of both the artists and ourselves that we found a solution,” Warner general manager Leif O. Ribe tells VG.
– Bring us a cup
The artists do not wish to state that the settlement did not include monetary compensation for the 30-year rights that were managed by others.
But they promise to celebrate the result:
– It may happen that Germany and I have a drink, laughs Alexandersen.
– It’s probably not entirely out of the question, Terje Tysland tells VG.
– I’m so glad, now we can get this out of our heads and move on.
With all rights to songs like “Light and Heat” in the box, Alexandresen now promises to “live life” — and look forward.
– I am currently working in the studio with Sambandet. This is what characterizes my life now.
Industry veteran Somund Fiskvik acted as an advisor to the artists on the matter. He referred to the agreement as “ready and sound”.
problems after bankruptcy
According to court records released by the Oslo District Court, mediation in the case began early last week, in a meeting that lasted more than ten hours.
Two of Alexandersen’s children, Line and Tom, are said to have been present there.
Alexandersen and Tesland previously sued our Warner Music label because they believed the record company didn’t have the right to manage their music from the ’80s and ’90s the way they did from the turn of the millennium.
The artists claimed all rights. They assumed that the rights should not have properly transferred after bankruptcy in 1993.
They entered formal talks with Warner over the rights struggle in 2016.
Warner considered that there were binding agreements between the artists and the record company that cleared the rights from bankruptcy through resale—as well as a sufficient and valid transfer of the disputed record releases.
Warner also argued that the plaintiffs’ claims were lost anyway by inaction, and that claims for damages or damages had expired by statute of limitations.
From a report from the preliminary court meeting, it appears that Warner did not have documentary evidence of the alleged transfer of rights after the 1993 bankruptcy.
Since the turn of the millennium, a mysterious company has made a lot of money from the rights that Alexandersen and Germany claimed.
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