Friday, March 21, 2008

Music rights flap jamming Bob Marley biopic


By Gregg Goldstein


NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) -
The family of Bob Marley
has refused to license any of his music for an upcoming
Weinstein Co. film drama about the late reggae star even though
his widow, Rita Marley, is its executive producer.

The reason? There is a competing Martin Scorsese
documentary being produced by the Marley family-owned Tuff Gong
Pictures and Steven Bing's Shangri La production banner, the
first theatrical documentary to license Marley songs.

The family members involved in the Scorsese documentary say
they were unaware that the Weinstein project would be unveiled
so soon and believe that its projected late-2009 release date
would interfere with their film's February 2010 opening, which
is timed to coincide with Marley's birthday.

"Martin Scorsese doesn't want to go out with a competing
project, and Steven Bing has made deals with companies" that
are now compromised, Blue Mountain Music president Chris
Blackwell said. "The Weinstein project has put the documentary
into jeopardy."

Blue Mountain Music is Marley's music publisher.

"All our efforts and support are currently directed toward
the documentary," said the reggae legend's son, Ziggy Marley,
who is executive producer of the untitled Scorsese film. "We
believe that this project is the best way to represent our
father's life from his perspective, and any other film project
pertaining to our father will be empty without his music to
support it."

"When I sold the film rights to my book (for the Weinstein
film)," Rita Marley told The Reporter, "the contract did not
include any rights to use my husband's music."

The Marley family's lawyer, Terri Dipalo, denied the latest
move was a negotiating ploy to compel the Weinsteins to buy
Marley music rights or to up the price for those rights. She
did suggest that "anything's possible" when asked if Marley's
songs might end up in the Weinstein feature.

Music publisher Blackwell would like to see the Weinstein
biopic delayed until at least 2015 to avoid the two projects
colliding. He said he talked with Harvey Weinstein on March 13
about the issue, but so far nothing has been resolved.

Blackwell told The Reporter that he expects a deal to be
reached soon whereby the Weinstein Co. would take a stake in
the Scorsese documentary and agree to postpone its drama.

Weinstein Co. spokesman Matthew Frankel responded, "We have
great respect for the Marley family and Chris Blackwell and are
in discussions to look at ways to mutually benefit both
projects."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

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