An attorney-at-law representing Dancehall veteran Norman ‘Tiger’ Jackson has issued a cease and desist order to producer Gussie Clarke of Dubplate Music Publishers to stop acting as the authorized publishing representative of the 64-year-old artist.
The letter has surfaced in the wake of a dispute over the compositional rights of Tiger’s 1991 song When, which was allegedly interpolated in Drake’s latest track, Blue Green Red. The new song, initially shared in early August as part of Drake’s “100 Gigs for Your Headtop” dump of unreleased music and behind-the-scenes content, was officially released on August 10 via OVO/Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc. However, according to When‘s producer, Cleveland Browne of Steely & Clevie, UMG released the track without securing the proper clearance.
Since then, various parties have been positioning themselves to cash in on the windfall from this track, which debuted at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has racked up 15 million streams on Spotify in less than a month.
The letter, sent by attorney-at-law Everton Dewar on behalf of his clients, Norman Jackson pka Tiger and/or his agent Rhia Jackson, serves as formal notice and demand that Clarke “immediately cease and desist from any and all claims, assertions, or actions that imply you are the authorized publishing representative for Norman Washington Jackson, professionally known as Tiger”.
“Please be advised that Mr. Jackson has unequivocally confirmed that at no point in time has he engaged your services to represent his publishing interests, nor has he authorized the registration of his wörks with any Performance Rights Organization (PRO), including but not limited ot PRS, through your companies,” the letter continued.
The letter further warned that any such registration or representation by your companies is without his knowledge, consent, or permission and, therefore, constitutes an unauthorized and illegitimate act.
“We have identified multiple instances where your companies are erroneously listed as having rights or representation of Mr. Jackson’s intellectual property. You are hereby ordered to: IMMEDIATELY relinquish all claims to any copyrights and/or publishing rights associated with Norman Washington Jackson AKA Tiger. IMMEDIATELY cease and desist from negotiating, conducting, or facilitating any business or transactions on behalf of Mr. Jackson,” the letter continued.
However, Augustus ‘Gussie’ Clarke, head of Dubplate Music Publishers, reacted with surprise and incredulity at the allegations that there was no understanding of a ‘signed agreement.’
“I was surprised to have noted that his daughter, Rhia, has stated that she is unaware of Tiger having an agreement with Dubplate when we have come to her house, made payment of outstanding and unpaid utilities, and set up a bank account in Tiger’s name and given her a debit card which she has been using for more personal matters than matters relating to Tiger and I can provide supporting documentation to this,” he told DancehallMag.
Clarke admitted that he had an acrimonious relationship with Tiger’s daughter, Rhia.
“I have blocked Rhia from my phone for the last two years because I am of the personal view that she is acting in the interest of herself and I hope that all of Tiger’s other children are aware and are party to anything that she is doing if it is unknown to them,” Clarke warned.
He also suggested that these moves by Rhia would only harm Tiger’s future financial situation.
“All these actions will do is further delay any potential benefit Tiger might get in the long term and even Tiger who came to my office on Saturday for his normal advance payment, I will discontinue it with immediate effect,” he said.
In a stinging broadside against Tiger’s daughter, Rhia, Clarke suggested that her power move was ‘self-serving’.
“Donna, Tiger’s ex-girlfriend Donna, and Tiger’s friend from Standpipe, Rocky, are two persons who I know, from time to him, have been looking more about his interests more than Rhia. I have met other children of Tiger who seem to care more about his interest than their interest, which is why I don’t have anything to do with her,” Clarke lamented.
Clarke was particularly surprised that Tiger’s daughter would deny prior knowledge of any agreement with Tiger when that was the basis on which he “had been providing financial support all these years.”
Clarke said that he had set up an account at a local bank for Tiger to collect his royalties from PRS (Performing Rights Society), and gave Rhia a debit card to the account to which he also has access.
“I made sure that Tiger come to my office every four weeks. We sign a cheque for $100,000 and Tiger come to the office every and collect $20-20 thousand and when that done, him sign another paper for it, and all of those papers have his signature. When the money started dwindling down, mi cut from $20,000 to $10,000 a week, and when it further drizzled down, we cut from 10 to 5, and when nothing not there, I still support him with $5,000,” he said.
Tiger can also earn money through his publishing and other mechanical royalties earned through streams, downloads, and physical sales. These royalties are not collected by Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) like the London-based Performing Right Society (PRS) but must be collected by a publisher.
However, Clarke, who is renowned for his work as a roots reggae and dub producer with some of the top Jamaican reggae artists in the 1970s, is doing a ‘Pontius Pilate’, and washing his hands of the whole situation.
“He (Tiger) is currently indebted to me, I was still carrying him but that will cease with immediate effect,” Clarke said.
In the meantime, Tiger’s attorney is pressing along, demanding a full accounting of publishing monies collected by Dubplate Music Publishers on Tiger’s behalf.
The letter further demanded that Clarke “provide all accounting records, documents, and any other materials related to Mr. Jackson’s publishing and copyrights herein.”
The letter vowed that legal action would be pursued if the demands were not met.
“Failure to comply with these demands within 14 business days from the receipt of this letter will result in Mr. Jackson pursuing al available legal remedies, including but not limited to litigation, to protect his rights and interests without further notice to you. Please be aware that your non-compliance may expose you to significant legal liability, including different types of damages and Attorneys’ fees.”
The letter suggested that all future correspondence and business matters touching and concerning Mr. Jackson must be directed to his attorneys.
When contacted, Dewar stated that his obligation is to secure my clients’ best interests, whether through negotiation or Court action.
“We have notified the relevant parties and is available soon for a meeting. We still doing some more due deligence on the infringement and other areas, which should be concluded soon. Elite Embassy is the ONLY authorised publisher for Norman Jackson aka Tiger’s 30-year plus titled track “When”,” he told DancehallMag.
