Bay City Rollers and Arista's legal battle continues

Two years ago, the Bay City Rollers filed a lawsuit against Arista Records, Inc., claiming that Arista had failed to pay them millions of dollars in royalties over an almost thirty-year period. The suit, filed on behalf of the Scottish band by Holland & Knight, alleges that Arista breached its contract with the Rollers and failed to account for or pay any royalties to the band for years, amounting to many millions of dollars in unpaid royalties.

In response to that lawsuit, Arista filed a motion to dismiss all of the Rollers' claims, asserting that the Rollers were barred from recovery for the millions of dollars that they had generated for the company. In its ruling, the Court expressly rejected Arista's main arguments, with the result that the lawsuit will now go forward without any meaningful impediment to the Rollers' claims.

"Although we are delighted, we are not surprised that the Court denied Arista’s efforts to dismiss the Rollers' claims," said Josh Krumholz of Holland & Knight, lead counsel for the Rollers. "This ruling is a highly significant victory for the Rollers and their efforts to recoup the millions owed to them by Arista Records in unpaid royalties. We now look forward to recovering in full the royalties that they have earned, but have been wrongly withheld from them, together with the interest that is due to them for the many years that their money has been wrongfully withheld."

To learn more about the original suit filed in 2007, please click here:
http://www.hklaw.com/id24660/publicationid5/returnid34/contentid47118/

The Bay City Rollers, also known as the "Rollers," were the UK's biggest selling global act in the 1970s, gaining massive popularity around the world with their clean-cut image, distinctive plaid outfits and upbeat pop hits. For a period of time known as "Rollermania," they enjoyed sell-out tours, hit records and even had their own weekly television series in both the U.S. and UK. At the height of their fame, comparisons to the Beatles' earlier popularity were not uncommon.

In total, the Rollers released eight original albums and numerous greatest hits and compilations, including five straight gold records and six singles that made the Top 40 on the U.S. hit charts. Among their many hits were Saturday Night, I Only Want to Be With You and Bye Bye Baby. As proof of their ongoing popularity, Arista's most recent compilation, called Absolute Rollers -- the Very Best of, hit the Top 10 on the UK charts within the last year, and a new Collections CD is due to be released shortly.

About Holland & Knight LLP: Holland & Knight is a global law firm with more than 1,100 lawyers in 17 U.S. offices as well as Abu Dhabi, Beijing and Mexico City. Representative offices are located in Caracas and Tel Aviv. Holland & Knight is among the nation's largest law firms, providing representation in litigation, business, real estate and governmental law. Interdisciplinary practice groups and industry-based teams provide clients with access to attorneys throughout the firm, regardless of location. www.hklaw.com