SAN JOSE, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Dec. 28, 1998--The local office of Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, one of the nation's leading law firms, has come to the legal aid of two members of an aboriginal tribe in Taiwan who claim that an international music star, major record companies and others have stolen their work.
Kuo Ying-Nan and his wife Kuo Hsin-Chu, members of the small Ami tribe in a remote section of Taiwan, say that the song "Return to Innocence" -- a worldwide best seller recorded by Michael Cretu and the European pop group Enigma -- incorporates the couple's "Jubilant Drinking Song," as they recorded it for a field survey of Taiwanese folk music.
"Mr. and Mrs. Kuo made this recording for cultural preservation purposes only," said E. Patrick Ellisen, a partner in OWD's San Jose office and a specialist in intellectual property law. "At no time did they grant anyone permission to commercialize their song. In fact, until friends recognized their voices on the recording and congratulated them, they weren't even aware of what had happened."
When the Kuos approached Cretu, the creator of Enigma, and other parties, they were summarily rebuffed.
"Mr. Cretu and the various recording companies essentially told the Kuos that because they are not wealthy or famous there is nothing they could do to protect their rights," Ellisen explained. "When this situation was brought to our attention, we recognized the raw injustice involved and accepted the case on a contingency fee basis, which is unusual for our firm.
"What we see here is a replay on an international scale of events in the U.S. during the late 1950s and 1960s when record companies essentially stole rhythm and blues songs from sometimes impoverished and relatively unsophisticated black artists and turned those works into big hits, without recognition and with minimal or no recompense to the originators."
At the behest of attorney Huang Hsiu-lan in Taiwan, Ellisen and Emil C. Chang, an associate in OWD's San Jose office, were able to persuade OWD's management, based in Minneapolis, to make the issue of compensation secondary to vindicating the ownership rights of the Kuos.
The Kuos -- he is 79 and in poor health and she is 78 -- are members of the Ami, a tribe indigenous to Taiwan. The Amis have a purely oral culture in which songs, chants and stories are passed down from generation to generation.
The Kuos were well-known creators and performers of Ami music, which prompted musical scholar Hsu Tsang-Houei to seek them out and record one of their songs as a sample of Ami folk culture.
A recording of the Kuos singing "Jubilant Drinking Song" a cappella was made probably during 1978 or 1979 and later included, without the Kuos' knowledge, in an album entitled "Chinese Folk Music Collection" published by the Chinese Folk Art Foundation.
Hsu, a former president of the Foundation, has twice declared that the song's ownership belongs to the original performers, that is, to the Kuos.
Through a chain of events, the Kuos' recording of "Jubilant Drinking Song" was included in an album published in France some years later and then, in 1994, was incorporated in "Return to Innocence," a track in Enigma's "Cross of Changes" album as well as numerous compilation albums and movie and TV program soundtracks.
"Return to Innocence" was on Billboard Magazine's international chart for 32 consecutive weeks and was adopted by the International Olympic Committee as the theme song of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.
The first eight seconds of "Return to Innocence" consist solely of the Kuos singing "Jubilant Drinking Song" and more than half of "Return to Innocence" contains their voices singing "Jubilant Drinking Song." The Kuos' singing is clearly the "hook" that gives the song its unique appeal.
OWD filed suit on the Kuos' behalf in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, naming as defendants Michael Cretu, Enigma, Capitol EMI Music, Charisma Records of America, Mambo Music, Virgin Schallplatten and the International Olympic Committee.
OWD has asked defendants to stipulate to the filing of an amended complaint, expanding the number of defendants to 20, including Sony Music Group and Virgin Records America Inc.
"We expect that a date will soon be set for a settlement conference," Ellisen said. "So far, the defendants have in our view been woefully deficient in their responses to the suit as filed and amended.
"We are confident that if this matter goes to trial, the Kuos will prevail and be awarded a substantial sum for not only royalties but damages and profits as well. We believe the actions of the defendants have been callous and outrageous."
Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, which dates to 1886, has a dozen offices in the United States and abroad, including three in California
-- in Newport Beach, Los Angeles and San Jose.
In 1998, the San Jose office, under the direction of Claude A. S. "Cash" Hamrick, has more than doubled in size, to 13 attorneys from six. The office specializes in patents, trademarks and copyrights and serves a number of Silicon Valley technology companies.
CONTACT:
The Roper Co., Los Angeles
Richard F. Roper, 310/826-5512
