Drummer for Billy Joel Files Royalty Lawsuit
According to the New York Post, a drummer who formerly worked with Billy Joel claims that the singer hasn’t paid him the royalties he is owed in years.
It seems that these hard economic times mean that many big name pop stars – like, oh say, Michael Jackson and Wilco – keep getting caught up in similar lawsuits.
The drummer, Liberty DeVitto, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court that demands Joel pay him the money his is owed. According to the suit, the drummer worked with Joel from 1975 until 2005 on some of Joel’s most popular albums.
58-year-old DeVitto’s lawyer claims he doesn’t know exactly how much the drummer is owed, as Joel’s sales are subject to a pending audit.
DeVitto works as a studio musician and teacher to support his family, which includes the drummer’s three children.
“Everybody always assumes that you make a lot of money because you worked with Billy Joel,” DeVitto informed the Post. “It didn’t happen that way.”
DeVitto couldn’t believe it when he was seemingly kicked out of Joel’s band for no good reason – at least according to the drummer: “People get fired, they get severance or insurance for a certain period of time. I didn’t even get a phone call. It was cold.”
Not sure how this one will work out. Session musicians are never paid royalties on album sales. They are paid as “work for hire” – which means that DeVitto was hired to play music in the studio – which he did – and it was recorded for the album. That is where payment ends.
It is also normal for session musicians to hit the road with the recording artist(s) to play, again, as “work for hire”.
I’m sure DeVitto was paid for every show he performed in and that this suit is a futile attempt to gain some of the revenue from album sales.
You are 100% correct in your final statement. This is nothing more than a transparent attempt to extort money from Billy Joel. Libert DeVitto was paid more than anyone in Joel’s organization – millions in fact – which he squandered and now wants Joel to give him more because he can’t make money any other way.
This is true; a session musician is a work for hire and paid a specific amount for their work; where does DeVitto get off thinking he deservers royalties for all these years?