| December 10th, 2004 02:51 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Miss. Court Reopens Bluesman Litigation
By JACK ELLIOTT JR., Associated Press Writer
JACKSON, Miss. - The Mississippi Supreme Court has reopened litigation over who owns photographs and writings of bluesman Robert Johnson, nearly 14 months after declaring his son sole heir to royalties from the memorabilia.
The justices said a claim by Johnson's heirs to pictures and a note should be decided by a trial in the county where Robert Johnson died at age 27 in 1938. He left no will.
Presiding Justice Kay Cobb, writing Thursday for the Supreme Court, said there is a legal question about whether the photographs — only two are known to exist — and writings were part of the estate at the time of the singer's death, and therefore the property of his son, Claud Johnson.
Robert Johnson, a traveling musician who recorded "Cross Road Blues," "Rambling on My Mind" and "Hellhound on My Trail," is considered the first modern bluesman, linking the country blues of the Mississippi Delta with the city blues of post-World War II. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Eric Clapton 's latest album, "Me and Mr. Johnson," is a tribute to the Mississippi bluesman that was nominated this week for a Grammy.
When Robert Johnson died, Carrie Harris Thompson, his half-sister, said she was his sole living heir and took possession of his photographs. In 1974, she signed a contract with a promoter to assign all of her purported rights to copyrights of Johnson's work, photographs and any other material concerning Johnson she might have. In return, the promoter was to pay her 50 percent of all royalties collected by him.
Annye C. Anderson and Robert M. Harris laid claim to the royalties through Thompson. Anderson is Thompson's half-sister, though she is not related to Robert Johnson. Harris is Thompson's grandson. They claim they were willed Thompson's royalties when she died in 1983.
In October 2003, the state Supreme Court said the contractual obligation to pay the Johnson estate royalties earned from licensing of the photographs created a relationship that carried over to Claud Johnson when he was declared to be Johnson's lawful heir.
But on Thursday, Cobb said a trial will have to determine if the pictures were part of the estate.
"While they (Anderson and Harris) make no claim to the property which belonged to Robert Johnson at his death," Cobb said, "they do claim pictures and a note, all of which they claim were the personal property of Carrie Thompson and not the Johnson estate. There is no evidence that this claim has ever been litigated or that it should have been."
[Edited by Ten Thousand Motels] |
| December 11th, 2004 10:08 AM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Can you imagine all that fuss over just two pictures?
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| December 11th, 2004 10:43 AM |
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| T&A |
In his book, Dylan claims that a short video of RJ exists (existed, anyway)... |
| December 11th, 2004 12:25 PM |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
That myth was busted. No footage exists, and the footage that was circulating was proved to be a hoax. If my memory serves correct, that footage is debunked in the awesome film, "Search For Robert Johnson" starring the great John Hammond Jr.
John Hammond Jr. is one of the very few white guys who gets it right. |
| December 13th, 2004 09:52 PM |
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| Saint Sway |
Keith claims to have the original death certificate. He revealed to a reporter in a recent interview at his home in CT. Interestingly, for some strange reason the certificate is two-sided |
| December 14th, 2004 04:16 AM |
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| Mathijs |
>Can you imagine all that fuss over just two pictures?
At last years hearings about Johnson's real son and grandson it was revealed that the works of Robert Johnson (40-odd tracks and two pictures) are worth about 1 million dollars a year in copyrights. The sole reason fr all these lawsuits.
Mathijs |
| December 14th, 2004 07:27 AM |
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| Mr Hess |
quote:
Sir Stonesalot wrote:
That myth was busted. No footage exists, and the footage that was circulating was proved to be a hoax. If my memory serves correct, that footage is debunked in the awesome film, "Search For Robert Johnson" starring the great John Hammond Jr.
You are correct. I saw this documentary too. |
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