A BLACKBURN record label is facing a royalties bill after losing a copyright case over a dance track which was a number two hit.
Jodie Aysha had taken All Around The World Records to the England and Wales Patent County Court in a dispute over club favourite Heartbroken.
The Leeds-based singer wrote the track when she was just 14 and her vocals were later recorded and remixed by Tafazwa Tawonezvi, better known as T2.
Slowly becoming a club hit and being played regularly on BBC Radio1Xtra, the track was brought to All Around the World (AAW) by a musical consultant, the court heard.
The track was released by AAW, pf Penny Street, via T2 and his new label 2NV, in November 2007. It reached number two in the main singles charts and stayed in the top 40 for 46 weeks.
But the court heard that Aysha, who staged legal action in her real name Jodie Henderson, had received no record royalties from the track.
She was also not paid for appearing in a video with T2 to promote the release, the court was told, though she was pictured in promotional material for Heartbroken.
Her lawyer, Chris Pearson, argued that her performer’s rights had been infringed.
But counsel representing AAW, run by Cris Nuttall and Matt Cadman, said the label had relied on 2NV, T2’s label, to obtain the necessary consents.
Judge Colin Birss QC ruled that AAW were aware Jodie Asyha was unhappy with the credit she was receiving for Heartbroken, even if she was co-operating in its release.
Judge Birss added: “I find that All Around the World’s release of Heartbroken was an infringement of Miss Henderson’s performer’s rights.”
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