Agent of funk George Clinton has been ordered by a judge to hand over the rights to four of his original tracks in order to pay his very much overdue legal fees amounting to $1 million dollars. Clinton will no longer retain ownership of the songs Hardcore Jollies, The Electric Spanking of War Babies, Uncle Jam Wants You, and One Nation Under a Groove.
Law firm Hendricks & Lewis, who worked with Clinton between 2005 and 2008, ended up suing the legendary musician in 2010 for unpaid fees to the tune of $1.5 million. Fast forward to the present and it appears that he has only fronted around $340,000 so far. This has prompted a federal court ruling that Clinton relinquish the rights of the songs to pay for the remainder of the debt.
He’s not totally out of the woods yet either. According to Spinner, this now means the law firm can do whatever they please with the recordings, which must be a scary thought for Clinton. However, the icon has filed for a reverse decision once the debt has been paid.
It appears that funk may have the power to move and remove, and also settle financial woes. Earlier in 2012, George Clinton was on the other side of the fence when he accused The Black Eyed Peas of using his material without permission, but that dispute has since been settled.
The man himself will be in town this March performing at Golden Plains as well as his own headlining gigs.
