Harris, Jack Gee, Sr.'s executor, as party plaintiff. "as spouse and heir of Bessie Smith" and that they were still in effect, Jack Gee, Jr. At this juncture, alleging that many if not all of the copyright registrations referred to in the original complaint were renewed in the name of Jack Gee, Sr. 4 The original complaint alleged that this copyright protection was subsequently infringed by defendants.Ĭolumbia filed a motion to dismiss, based on plaintiff's failure to allege ownership of the copyrights and renewals upon which he based his claim. The case was originally filed only by Jack Gee, Jr., and its initial allegations concerned only federal copyright protection which Smith either obtained or might have obtained for the approximately forty (40) songs she composed, as well as recorded, between 19. The multifaceted suit asserts a variety of claims against Columbia arising out of its dealings with Smith and her recordings during her lifetime, and out of Columbia's posthumous issue and reissue of those recordings. The other plaintiff is one Jack Gee, Jr., who claims to be the adopted son of Smith and Jack Gee, Sr. 2 She was survived by her husband, Jack Gee, Sr., who died in 1975. For convenience defendants will simply be referred to as "Columbia." Smith died on September 26, 1937, in a tragic automobile accident near Clarksdale, Mississippi. Some of plaintiffs' claims relate to Columbia Phonograph Company in the 1920's and 1930's and some to actions of its corporate successors in the 1950's and 1970's. and its parent corporation, CBS, Inc., are the defendants herein. During that period Smith earned from $1,500 to $2,000 per week, a staggering sum for anyone then to earn, and an awesome achievement for a black woman of that era.įrom 1923 until her death in 1937, Smith was an exclusive recording artist for Columbia Phonograph Company, whose successor, Columbia Records, Inc. From 1923 to 1928, the theatres in which she appeared on tour were filled to overflowing and thousands were turned away. Bessie Smith ("Smith") was a great singer and composer of the "blues." 1 During the 1920's, Smith was one of America's top box office attractions and recording stars. This suit for damages and injunctive relief arises out of the luminous career of the late Bessie Smith who may be fairly described as "Empress of the Blues." See C.
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