Rolling Stones pass Verve royalties to Richard Ashcroft

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones have ended one of the most acrimonious copyright disputes in British pop by granting Richard Ashcroft all future royalties from his 1997 song Bitter Sweet Symphony, performed by the Verve.

Bitter Sweet Symphony reached No 2 in the UK and had a distinctive string motif. Those four seconds of strings were sampled from an orchestral recording of the Rolling Stones song The Last Time, but the rights were not fully cleared before the song was released.

Publishing company ABKCO, owned by Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein, argued that the Verve had used a larger portion of the sample than was agreed, and, following a lawsuit that was settled out of court, forced Ashcroft to relinquish the song’s royalties and create a new song writing credit: Jagger/Richards/Ashcroft.

But following an appeal to Jagger and Richards from Ashcroft’s management company, the pair “immediately, unhesitatingly and unconditionally agreed” to hand over the royalties.

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Shalish Mehta

Shalish is an experienced dispute resolution solicitor who joined the firm in 2002 ago upon qualifying as a solicitor and provides a proactive approach whilst retaining the personal touch to help you achieve the best possible outcome for your case. He acts on behalf of both private individuals and commercial clients. He can assist and advise at any stage of a dispute including mediation through to court action and injunctions. Shalish is a keen sportsman, regularly playing cricket and five-a-side football and also watching live sport. He enjoys city breaks and takes great pleasure in sampling different cuisines from around the world. Shalish is fluent in Gujarati and will happily represent those for whom Guajarati is the first language, in English. He is also happy to offer his services as a translator to our clients as necessary. What clients say about Shalish: “We feel the service was perfect and found our solicitor, Shalish Mehta, very professional and helpful in all aspects”