Dionne Warwick Sued by Rights Management Company

R&B legend Dionne Warwick is being sued by Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation, the rights management company that has represented Warwick for more than two decades. 

The issue:

• Since 2002 Artists Rights has represented Warwick on rights management matters, such as negotiating the 2023 deal for Doja Cat to use a sample of Warwick’s “Walk on By” in her hit single “Paint the Town Red.” 

• It has done so without charging the singer, on the understanding the firm would receive a 50% cut of her royalties “in perpetuity.”

• As per Digital Music News, the firm has filed a lawsuit on the grounds that Warwick is violating their contract by trying to evade paying “hundreds of thousands, if not millions” it claims to be owed.

• It also states that in September Warwick’s lawyers sent a letter to “terminate” their contract.

• Artists Rights’ lawyers state that the firm has carried out its obligations as per their agreement, and that “Ms. Warwick has wrongfully and unreasonably repudiated the contracts.”

Mutually beneficial:

• In its claim, Artists Rights says their arrangement has benefited both parties, yielding $2.5 million revenue over the years, and a “sixty-fold” increase in royalty distributions from her record companies.