PROCOL HARUM BATTLE GOES BACK TO COURT
PROCOL HARUM organist MATTHEW FISHER has been given the go-ahead to take his appeal over royalties for the band’s hit song A WHITER SHADE OF PALE to London’s House of Lords.
The founding member of the 1960s rockers lost a legal battle against frontman Gary Brooker earlier this year (08), after an appeals court handed the singer full royalty rights - overturning a 2006 ruling which gave Fisher a 40 per cent cut of the song’s profits.
Fisher argued he had written the 1967 song’s famous melody, and should be entitled to royalties as a result.
A British judge ruled Fisher’s 2006 case was invalid because it took him 38 years to bring the case to court.
But now the musician is fighting back - and on Thursday (06Nov08), Fisher was given the opportunity to have his argument heard in the U.K.’s highest court, the House of Lords.
He says, "I’m delighted that the House of Lords have decided to take my appeal, and I remain hopeful that my claim will be allowed in full." Fisher maintains he helped to write the hit song, which has for years simply been credited to Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid.
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