Sony Rescinds Settlement Agreement Involving Nina Simone Case

Sony Music has recently filed paperwork to rescind a settlement agreement in a case involving Nina Simone’s estate that has been ongoing for 25 years.  The lawyers for Sony have been adamant about keeping the details of the settlement agreement private. 

Steven Ames Brown, who was Nina Simone’s attorney, had been assigned 40% of the rights to Simone’s music that he had previously recovered.  Brown claims that he only conveyed to Sony the reproduction rights to Nina Simone’s music and not the rights to the physical embodiment of the recordings.  Steven Brown and Sony Music had entered into a settlement agreement which Sony is now rescinding on claims that Brown has not lived up to his end of the bargain.

See Ian Holubiak, Nina Simone’s Secret 25-Year Lawsuit With Sony Comes To A Head, Classicalite, May 11, 2015.

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.