CU Denver Professor Stan Soocher Dissects Beatles’ Legal Issues in new book
by Tim Wenger
Off the cusp, it might sound a bit inundating- another book about the Beatles. None in the know will argue the vast influence the group has had, and continues to have, on not only popular music but the the business behind it. But do we really need to more reading about a group of British rock stars whose wave of frenzied fandom first struck American shores nearly forty years ago?
Here in Denver, a lawyer and college professor is making a strong case for the ‘yes’ argument. The author of They Fought the Law: Rock Music Goes to Court is back with his second book, diving into head first into the court battles that helped shape the band’s career and personal relationships with his new book Baby, You’re a Rich Man- Suing the Beatles for Fun & Profit from Foredge/University Press of New England.
Stan Soocher is an Associate Professor of Music & Entertainment Studies and the University of Colorado’s Denver campus, as well as an entertainment attorney and longtime journalist. His fascination with the Beatles goes back to his teenage years during the early days of Beatlemania, and this book serves as not only an historical account of the Beatles in court, but as a sort of homage to them as pioneers of the legal issues that have plagued musicians ever since. Here we look at Soocher’s path of covering the Beatles, and how his work is relevant to both Beatles maniacs from back in the day and modern musicians alike.
Soocher comes across as calm but well put together, much like the subjects of his book, whose own introduction to the Beatles’ music came as a result of the band’s radio popularity starting in the mid-sixties. Over blueberry pancakes and a carafe of coffee I learned about his background while pressing him about the kind of influence the Beatles will continue to have on the music business in the future, and why their legal issues are still in the news today.
“Back in my teen years I became a drummer for a rock band, and back in those times everybody wanted to hear Beatles songs,” Soocher says. His group’s rehearsal for a gig was thrown in a loop when the song “The Daytripper” took the airwaves in December 1965. “We spent the day making sure we knew the song because (we knew) everybody would ask for it.”
His path to law, which over the course of nearly 40 years led him to write this book, started with a gig writing for a music mag. He was introduced to rock journalism while studying at the University of Florida, and a lifelong desire to be a writer was realized when he took a job at CIRCUS Magazine in the late seventies. It was his question of what he could get away with using in his articles that first piqued his interested in the legal side of music. “While I was there interviewing all kinds of different artists, many of whom would say outrageous things, I became interested from the writing point of view in what I could actually use,” he says. “For instance, if David Lee Roth, who was always saying outrageous things, said something about somebody, could I use it as a quote in my article.”
Enter the law school years, where Soocher focused on entertainment law while digging up knowledge of ‘writer’s rights’. In 1985, he worked to start a publication called Entertainment Law and Finance, of which he is still the Editor-in-Chief. The Beatles notoriously had many legal issues over the years and Soocher and the publication were there to report on them.
“There’s all these books about the Beatles, many of which have something about the law,” Soocher says. “Saying the Beatles legal history, though, is like an encyclopedia. A set of encyclopedias.” So the concept was born between Soocher and publishing company University Press to focus a book on the legal issues that plagued the best-selling music artists that the USA has ever seen.
One of the earliest and most notorious, perhaps, was the court clash between the band and Capital Records, in which the band accused their label of underpaying royalties. The Beatles’ attorney Leonard Marks ran an article in Entertainment Law and Finance about the case, and Soocher started following the case closely. “It was really a massive battle between one of the largest record companies ever and there major act,” says Soocher. After that, the band couldn’t seem to stay out of the courtroom and because of their influence musically, the behind-the-scenes stuff kept sneaking its way into the magazine’s pages.
Now, in 2015, the book touches on how the band in many ways paved the legal road of the modern music business. Back in the sixties and seventies, there certainly was not the amount of legal help available for artists nor were there many books published on the subject, and with the modern era of music having just evolved through the fifties and early sixties, many of the issues that plagued the Beatles simply hadn’t happened to anybody else yet. “So much of it was new,” Soocher says. “It was hard to get information, and also (Beatles manager) Brian Epstein was not a seasoned manager. It happened so quick. The manager was a neophyte. The band had not a lot of knowledge. It was hard to get information. And the massive wave of Beatlemania made it extremely difficult to get a handle on things and know how to fully protect their rights.”
Throughout the book, readers will find the result of thousands of hours of research conducted around the country, sometimes shining a new light on the group. “I think Beatles fans will find new things,” Soocher says. “I tried really hard to find some information that they may not have known about or hadn’t been out there before.” For those diehards or legal hounds who want to do further research, the book has over 600 endnotes that reference where Soocher found his information and where they can look for further reading. For the music business savvy, Soocher touches on how the Beatles built their image and brand, how bringing on Epstein as manager helped mold the group into that image, and how the brand was marketed around the globe.
For the musicians reading this who may someday face legal issues themselves, Soocher has some advice- do your research. “Be careful about just finding a sample contract on the web and saying, ‘This is how it should be.’ Think things through. I know it can be expensive but it is important to have a knowledgeable attorney look at any contract.” When making business decisions as a band, plan ahead (if you can) for potential issues that could arise down the line. “I think that with some of the issues that may come up, issue spotting can be helpful. There are a lot of resources out there.”
Also, be careful what you put online, especially when sampling. “Artists are creative oriented, but they need to somehow use cautionary thinking today as they create their content because it is so easy for people to find things out there.”
Luckily for you, the Beatles were there to experience the triumphs and tragedies of band life and shine a light into the dark world of musician’s legal life. The industry is evolving at lightning speeds, with potential new legal issues being created as fast as new streaming services. Will the experiences that the Beatles had still be relevant in fifty years? “I would say that based on past history, there is a good chance that they will continue to be a model to look at when issues arise,” Soocher says. “We don’t know how the where the digital age of music is going, but they are a part of it now.”
Just another reason the thank John, Paul, George, and Ringo for everything they gave to the world.
Pick up the book at Amazon.com or at your local retailer. Find more info about Stan Soocher at stansoocher.com.
Soocher’s promo tour for the book, as of now, is as follows:
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