Prince’s Music: More Contract Disputes

I’ve already blogged about the contractual disputes around the music that the late artist Prince left behind when he died unexpectedly. They continue with another case in the District of Minnesota, Paisley Park Enterprises, Inc. v. Boxill, Case No. 17-cv-1212 (WMW/TNL). In this dispute, Boxill, a consultant and sound engineer who worked with Prince, had announced that he would release five Prince recordings in his possession on the anniversary of Prince’s death. Prince’s estate sued, seeking a preliminary injunction against the release, which the court granted. One of the causes of action revolved around the Confidentiality Agreement that Boxill had entered into with Prince. Under the terms of the agreement, Boxill was allowed to enter Prince’s home and work with Prince and disclaimed any property interest connected with this work. Yet when Prince’s estate demanded return of the recordings in Boxill’s possession, he refused to turn them over. This was sufficient to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits for breach of the contract. 

Boxill’s main argument was that the Confidentiality Agreement only covered his work consulting on the remodel of Prince’s music studio; the Confidentiality Agreement did not cover Boxill’s work as a sound engineer recording music with Prince. Boxill’s reasoning on this was that the Confidentiality Agreement prohibited him recording any of Prince’s performances, but he was required to do so when he was working with Prince as a sound engineer. The Prince estate’s response to this was that it had waived the recording portion of the Confidentiality Agreement but the rest stayed in force and covered all of Boxill’s activities. The Court concluded that either interpretation was plausible, and that Prince’s estate had a “fair chance” of prevailing on the merits. 

A motion to dismiss is currently pending in the case, so we’ll see what happens!