The music industry is tricky to navigate, especially regarding the issues related to publishing rights. After so many strenuous years of battling in court, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty finally has regained control of his classical songs. Dee Snider celebrated Fogert’s massive win for having his music back with a message on his Twitter account.
The Twisted Sister frontman wrote, “Congratulations, John! It’s awful what happened to you. You gave us your music, and now once again, it’s yours to give.” It seems like Snider supported Fogerty from the beginning of his contentious struggle to regain control of his publishing rights.
The legal battle has been going on since CCR signed with Fantasy Records. The terms of the deal seemed unfair to John Fogerty, and he tried for years to disentangle himself from the label. To be able to do that, he gave up his royalties to the label’s executive Saul Zaentz. During those years, he didn’t receive a dime from them.
There was some back and forth between the label and Fogerty until the singer decided to buy a majority interest in the global publishing rights to his CCR catalog from Concord, who bought Fantasy Records. The guitarist is now free to sing his tracks full-heartedly without thinking about Zaentz profiting off his live performances. So he can enjoy being on stage with his two sons.
Interestingly, the singer has bought the rights to his music while many big names in the industry have been selling their catalogs for massive sums. Now he can proudly say that he has gained his publishing rights. Next up are his masters, but he is more than grateful for his current status at this moment of victory.
Congratulations John! It's awful what happened to you. You gave us your music and now once again it's yours to give. https://t.co/Uat4qOn1cL
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) January 15, 2023
