KING CRIMSON and Declan Colgan Music have reached an agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG) regarding their legal dispute concerning a Kanye West song that incorporates a sample from King Crimson‘s 1969 track, “21st Century Schizoid Man.”
Declan Colgan Music, which holds the mechanical rights to the KING CRIMSON song, alleged that UMG had not adequately compensated them for streaming royalties generated by the sample’s inclusion in West‘s song “Power.”
The legal action was initiated in London’s High Court in March 2022, with the trial scheduled to commence in the UK this week before a resolution was reached outside of court. Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, incorporated KING CRIMSON‘s iconic track into his 2010 hit “Power.” However, he was not directly involved in the lawsuit, which primarily concerns claims of insufficient compensation for mechanical rights.
Nevertheless, the lawsuit claims that West initially used track without obtaining a license when “Power” and its album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, were launched in 2010. Subsequently, following the song and album release, UMG and West‘s production company, Rock the World, entered into an agreement with Declan Colgan Music to provide royalties to the company.
As per the agreement, Declan Colgan Music was entitled to royalties under terms equivalent to West‘s agreement with UMG, which specified comparable royalties for both streaming and physical CD sales. However, in their legal action, Declan Colgan Music alleged that the royalties they obtained from streaming did not match those received from CD sales.
The specifics of the settlement remain undisclosed, but sources informed Variety that Declan Colgan Music received compensation as part of the resolution. Both Declan Colgan Music and UMG declined to provide comments to media inquiries. Declan Colgan Music was represented by Clintons, while Russells acted as legal counsel for UMG.
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