Lucio Battisti, Sony loses lawsuit with heirs over disputed rights

Sony also lost the last stage of the lawsuit to obtain maxi compensation from the heirs of Lucio Battisti for having prohibited the exploitation of the artist's musical works. A match that the company of the singer-songwriter's widow, Grazia Letizia Veronese, and her son Luca Battisti, had already won both in Court and in the Court of Appeal.

At the centre of the major's request, for approximately 8 million in damages, is the revocation of the mandate to SIAE for the use of the works of the author of 'Emozioni' both on digital streaming platformsmusic and in commercial commercials. A marketing veto that would have caused the plaintiff financial damage, quantified by the lack of synchronisation. However, the Cassazione rejected the record company's appeal and confirmed the correctness of the conclusions reached by the Court of Appeal.

Sony had argued that it was the exclusive owner of a number of phonographic recordings of musical works performed by Lucio Battisti, under contracts concluded between 1966 and 1994, by the artist with the record company and its related companies. The Court of Appeal had, however, clarified that the recording 'agreements' entered into by Lucio Battisti over fifty years ago did not permit the use of the phonographic recordings either online or for advertising, without the heirs' consent.

As a result of the revocation of the mandate granted to SIAE, Sony should have requested authorisation for the use of the recordings on digital and telematic channels from the companies attributable to Battisti's heirs, as they are now the owners of the music publishing rights of the works, and no longer to SIAE. However, for the Supreme Court, there is a lack of 'elements capable of suggesting that, following the revocation of the mandate to SIAE, the parties,' the judges wrote, 'had begun negotiations preparatory to the conclusion of an agreement and, as regards the right to synchronisation of the works, the absence of official proposals sent to the rightful claimants'. For the record company also the sentence to pay 25,000 euros for the costs of the legal proceedings.