![]() ![]() "This has been a long, painful ordeal for me and my family and I am glad that whatever the verdict, this case is now over," he said. On his own website, he said he has been portrayed as "an intransigent and vengeful fiend", determined to drag Brooker through the courts. It has now made history twice more: in April it was played in the Palace of Westminster in the first time the law lords have been asked to rule on a pop song, and today they handed down their judgment on their last day before the new supreme court takes over.įisher won in the high court in 2006, lost the appeal in 2008, and has now had the original decision in his favour upheld. Earlier this year a BBC chart rated it Britain's most frequently played song in public places. However it has been used on countless occasions, as the music for weddings and funerals, at product launches and in lifts, as well as on dozens of film scores. The single was a worldwide hit in 1967, but topped the UK charts for a modest six weeks. The judgment leaves both parties no clearer as to where they stand as to who can benefit in the future from royalties arising from the original recording of A Whiter Shade of Pale." "However, they expressly refused to make a definitive finding on the point. "The Lords ruled that the terms of the recording contract in place at the time may well have the effect of depriving Mr Fisher from collecting royalties on the original recording. The ruling still left confusion over the song. The ruling only applies to future royalties, but Abramson predicted any earnings would be swallowed up in legal costs, which have yet to be ruled on. They will have to be determined on the facts but everyone in the same position as Mr Fisher will have a go."įisher has said he delayed so long because he was repeatedly told he had no hope, but was inspired to go to law after a landmark judgement in 2002 against Scottish band the Bluebells, when Bobby Valentino was recognised as composer of the violin solo on the 1984 single Young At Heart, for which he originally earned £75.įisher has always said he only wanted recognition for his work, and only sought royalties from the date he first sued in 2005. 'But I wandered through my playing cards And they would not let her be One of sixteen vestal virgins Who were leaving for the coast And although my eyes were open wide They might have just as well been closed And so it was that later As the miller told. ![]() Lawrence Abramson, representing Gary Brooker, the singer who wrote the rest of the music to famously inscrutable lyrics by Keith Reid, said: "The ruling will encourage a lot of other claims but it will not mean that they will all succeed. Turned a whiter shade of pale She said, 'There is no reason And the truth is plain to see. Lawyers warned that his victory could open the floodgates to other belated claims by musicians who played on old hits. His doleful little tune was added to the song after the band responded to his advertisement in Melody Maker, boasting that he was the proud possessor of a rare Hammond organ. ![]()
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