CHIRP: The Chicago Independent Radio Project

Dustin Drase writes

Procul Harum founder Gary Brooker wins court case over rights to A Whiter Shade of Pale

Reuters reports that Procol Harum founder Gary Brooker recently won his court battle over royalty rights to the band’s most famous hit, the 1967 song “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”

In 2006, 39 years after the song was written, the Harum keyboard player Matthew Fisher was awarded 40% royalty of the song (an estimated worth of about $2 million). The recent court decision overturns that ruling and sides in favor of Gary Brooker, on the premise that although the keyboard is an integral part of the song, “Matthew Fisher is guilty of excessive and inexcusable delay in his claim to assert joint title to a joint interest in the work.”

Judge John Mummery said in his judgment that, while Fisher should be credited with co-authorship of the seminal track, the fact that it took him 38 years to take the case to court meant he should not benefit financially.