Country music artist Dwight Yoakam sued his former record label Tuesday in Los Angeles, alleging that Warner Music is refusing to honor federal copyright law and won’t allow him to reclaim rights to his early material.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, involves the Copyright Act of 1976, under which many composers can terminate copyright grants after waiting 35 years.
The suit alleges that Rhino — a Los Angeles-based Warner subsidiary that handles catalog material — proposed revised terms once it received Yoakam’s notices of termination indicating he wanted to regain control of songs off his 1986 debut album, “Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.,” the first of his three consecutive No. 1 country albums.
A Warner Music representative could not immediately be reached for comment.
The suit comes after the label apparently pulled some of Yoakam’s early songs from streaming platforms.
Lawyers for the singer-songwriter allege that “by refusing to return Mr. Yoakam’s works while simultaneously refusing to exploit those same works,” Warner is essentially “holding Mr. Yoakam’s copyrights hostage and paralyzing Mr. Yoakam from financially benefiting from his statutory right to terminate the transfer of his copyrights.”