Pass the Dutchie - lawyers the big winners

[Islandman]

Musical Youth loses copyright battle

BY CECELIA CAMPBELL-LIVINGSTON Observer staff reporter

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

MUSICAL Youth, the British quintet who scored a massive hit in 1982 with Pass The Dutchie — their adaptation of The Mighty Diamonds' Pass The Kutchie — has lost a copyright case against their former lawyers.

According to the British website guardian.co.uk, a high court judge has ruled in favour of partners in the now defunct law firm Woolf Seddon, saying a claim by Dennis Seaton, Michael Grant, Kelvin Grant, Frederick Waite Junior - aka Junior Waite - and a representative of the estate of the late Patrick Waite, had no merit.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/enter...TCHIE_11138979

[Assasin]

after seeing UNSung with them, I feel sorry for Musical youth. It seems like everybody else made money except them and the mighty diamonds from that song.

[Rudi]

Why should they make money for changing Kutchie to Dutchie? everything else was pretty much the same. I hope the Mighty Diamonds were compensated properly. If anybody had the right to sue it would have been them.

[Mosiah]

Agreed! Thought the youth were pretty ordinary still.

[Exile]

Agreed.

[Assasin]

Pass the Dutchie wasn't the only hit song they had. They had been totally ripped off. The DJ added a few more lines anyway but as Tabby stated more than once that they were not properly compensated.

After watching UNSUNG with Musical youth I came to the conculsion that they were used and abused. Yes for that song the diamonds should get their writing credit but also youths should get at least performing credit. If is the same lawyers looked about the royalties both maybe screwed.

[Gamma]

they were a gimmick ...

[Islandman]

Yeah but nonetheless they were taken advantage of...as per usual.

The parents had no clue what was going on and quite frankly did not seem up to that kind of business venture. Nobody else had thier interest at heart...as per usual.

Nobody more gimmicky than the Spice Girls but most a dem seem to be doing OK.

[Islandman]

You remember when Bobby Womack say as a young singer/songwriter him hear say Rolling Stones do him song and it buss bigger dem fe him version and him VEX, till Sam Cook ask him if him a eediat, him shoulda a smile every day say dem bwoy do him song cause him coulda neva reach dat audience.

If Mighty Diamonds neva mek a nice money offa dat song dem get screwed too. It is thier song, not even debatable. It is possible that the complications were on thier side, like the I'm Still in Love-Sean Paul situation. I wonder if nutten did lef inna the kitty after the lawyers work through that one.

[Mosiah]

And Musical Youth did put reggae music and Jamaica on the map for some people. Like HL.

[Gamma]

not nice ....

[Assasin]

Yep your right. Once you get some a dem lawyer involved it take the joy outa everything. Hope our artists and entertainment lawyers can set some form of template for this kind of thing so writers and performers can get their fair share. As Dolly Parton said she thanked Whitney Houston for choosing her song and making it even more of a classic. The thing is she never had to do that.

[Mosiah]

yes. we've already agreed that Musical Youth was not that good.