*Gospel artist Kirk Franklin appeared on Club Shay Shay recently and claimed his former record label took 100 percent of the publishing for his first album. The label, GospoCentric Records, has fired back with a cease-and-desist order for spewing false information.
“My very first recording contract at 23 years old, the label I signed with, they took a hundred percent of my publishing,” Franklin told host Shannon Sharpe on the Club Shay Shay podcast. “The people that had represented me didn’t know; it was new for everyone.”
Attorneys for GospoCentric Records claim Franklin “received several million dollars in publishing revenues from tunes he’d written on his first recordings, including his breakout hit, “Why We Sing,” LA Focus News writes.
“As you are fully aware whenever a song is created, two equal shares of royalties attach: (1) the songwriter’s share equal to 50% of the total publishing rights; and (2) the publisher’s share equal to 50% of the total publishing rights,” the legal documents states, per LA Focus News.
The company claims both the songwriter and publisher (Lilly Mack Publishing) would have had to have been victims of theft for “any party to take “a hundred percent of [your] publishing,” the complaint states.
“Accordingly, 100% of the music publishing of any song necessarily includes both the songwriter’s share and the publisher’s share,” per the legal docs.
Meanwhile, Lilly Mack Publishing released a statement announcing plans to pursue legal action against Franklin.
“As stated in the cease-and-desist letter served to Franklin on December 18, 2023, he [Kirk Franklin] received his fair and equitable songwriting and publishing rights and subsequent revenues, totaling in the millions. This fruitful financial blessing has established him as one of the most prominent and influential names in gospel music,” the publishing house said.
“Though Franklin has chosen to make irresponsible, reckless and unfounded claims in a public forum, we will not resort to such actions and, instead, will pursue legal remedies against these false claims,” the statement continued.
READ MORE: Kirk Franklin Finds Birth Father at Age 53 | Video
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