Jem Aswad, Variety; Spinal Tap Creators and Universal Music Settle Copyright Dispute
"The complaint also sought a judgment in the actors’ right to reclaim
their copyright to the film and elements of its intellectual property
(screenplay, songs, recordings and characters). Vivendi has claimed that
the film was created as a work for hire, with the studio essentially
the author. This would prevent the actors from exercising their option
to reclaim the rights to the film 35 years after its initial release,
which is permitted by law.
“The scale and persistence of fraudulent misrepresentation by Vivendi
and its agents to us is breathtaking in its audacity,” Shearer said in a
statement at the time. “The thinking behind the statutory right to
terminate a copyright grant after 35 years was to protect creators from
exactly this type of corporate greed and mismanagement. It’s emerging
that Vivendi has, over decades, utterly failed as guardian of the Spinal
Tap brand – a truer case of life imitating our art would be hard to
find.”"
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