Gloria Gaynor’s former producer has warned the disco legend is being “taken advantage of” after she accused him of unfairly claiming the rights to a catalog of her biggest hits.
Gaynor, 81, best known for her anthem I Will Survive, claims she is owed $2 million after Joel Diamond allegedly exploited her copyright for decades and failed to pay royalties.
Diamond, also 81, falsely claimed ownership of eight of his songs based on a 1983 record contract, according to a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York on July 26.
The filing states that “at no time did Gaynor write a song with Diamond” and that “to her knowledge, Diamond has never been a songwriter.”
But Diamond claims he has evidence showing that he does, in fact, own the rights to seven of Gaynor’s nine masters, and even co-wrote a song with her.
Gloria Gaynor’s former producer has warned the recording legend is being “taken advantage of” after she accused him of unfairly claiming the rights to a catalog of her biggest hits.
He believes the “baseless accusations” have been “made up by someone other than Gloria to poison” their decades-long friendship.
“For more than 40 years, Joel Diamond had a close personal friendship with Gloria Gaynor that went far beyond a mere business relationship,” his representative Bryan Freedman told DailyMail.com. ‘They shared family events and life milestones together and developed a very deep bond.
‘Gloria even sent personalized video messages to Joel on his birthday.
“It’s really disappointing that someone would try to take advantage of Gloria by making her sign a lawsuit with so many falsehoods that it has no merit.”
They continued: “It is clear that these baseless accusations have been concocted by someone other than Gloria to poison her relationship with Joel, as well as Joel’s other relationships.”
A source added that Gaynor is “ill-advised.”
Gaynor met Diamond through her then-husband Linwood Simon, who ran Linwood Maxwell Music. Both parties entered into a recording agreement “sometime in 1983,” according to the lawsuit.
“Defendants have maintained that this was work for hire,” the suit reads. “Gaynor has denied that any work created, recorded and performed by her was a work for hire.”
Gaynor, 81, claims he is owed $2 million after Joel Diamond allegedly exploited his copyrights for decades and failed to pay royalties (pictured together circa 1983).
Diamond, 81, claims he has evidence showing that he does, in fact, own the rights to seven of Gaynor’s nine masters, and even co-wrote the song More Than Enough with her.
A copyright registration certificate signed in October 1984 by Gaynor and Diamond.
A work for hire, under US copyright law, is a work that is subject to copyright and is created by employees as part of their job.
As a result, Diamond claims he owns the rights to Gaynor’s songs, Eeny-Meeny-Mack-A-Rack, Chain of Whispers, Strive, Bull’s Eye, Only in A Love Song, I’ve Been Watching You and More Than Enough. , which he co-wrote with Gaynor.
The record producer said he never claimed ownership of the rights to his 1978 single You’re All I Need to Get By, which was included in his set. The track was written by Ashford & Simpson.
DailyMail.com has been shown a collection of official documents from several leads in question, including More Than Enough.
A BMI editor’s release form, dated September 4, 1984, shows Diamond and Gaynor sharing a 50-50 split. His name also appears on the original vinyl record label and on a copyright registration certificate signed in October 1984.
Gaynor is a co-plaintiff with Robin Randall, a songwriter who alleges that Diamond “fraudulently claimed ownership of copyrighted works owned by Robin and wrongfully and without authority entered into licensing agreements with them.”
Randall is a songwriter who collaborated with her mother Judithe as part of a two-person songwriting team. Judithe died on April 3, 2002.
The lawsuit claims that Diamond “fraudulently induced and otherwise wrongfully caused Judithe Randall to assign her ownership rights in many copyrighted works.”
Diamond believes the “baseless accusations” have been “made up by someone other than Gloria to poison” their decades-long friendship (Gaynor pictured in 1975).
Gaynor, her ex-husband Linwood Simon, Diamond and Harold Wheeler photographed together around 1983, the year the two parties signed a recording agreement, according to the lawsuit.
Gaynor and Diamond are listed as composers and authors on More Than Enough
This allegedly occurred in early 2001, shortly after Judithe was committed to a mental institution and later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
“Joel Diamond visited Judithe Randall, during which time several agreements were signed,” the lawsuit states. “It is believed that Judithe Randall was forced to sign not only her name but that of Robin Randalls.”
A source close to Diamond told DailyMail.com: ‘Joel never met Judithe Randall in person, nor spoke to her during the final days of her life, so there is no way he could have forced her to sign her name as he claims. Randall.
“Furthermore, Joel was never listed as a co-writer on any songwriter agreement or copyright registration.”
Gaynor and Randall are seeking royalties they believe they are owed, as well as termination of their respective contracts with Diamond.
“Since the inception of the alleged recording agreement, despite Gaynor’s repeated requests for an accounting thereof, Defendants have failed to pay royalties, provided no transparency as to who was licensed to Gaynor’s music nor any demonstration that Gaynor’s music was protected,” the lawsuit reads. .
“Defendants completely failed in their obligations to keep plaintiffs informed about how their work was licensed and used, while improperly demanding financial benefits to which they were not entitled by exploiting that same relationship.”
Diamond and the companies he controls, Joel Diamond Entertainment, Silver Blue Productions and Ocean Blue Music, are named as defendants in the filing.
Vivian Rivera-Drohan, Gaynor’s lawyer, told DailyMail.com that Gaynor is determined to get what she believes she is owed in unpaid royalties.
Tony Chase, Diamond, Wendy Edmead, Robey, Gaynor, Liz Swados, Sylvia Miles, Randy Jones (LR) photographed at Diamond’s Penthouse circa 1984
“If given the opportunity, we will prove our allegations with the evidence we have,” he said in a statement. ‘Gloria insists she never wrote a song with Joel. She herself wrote More than enough. There’s no way I co-wrote it.
“She also has never seen a contract that ‘proves’ he was involved in the writing. Joel has not presented any contract.
‘She wants him to be held accountable for what is owed to him. She fully acknowledges the role he played in the production of several of her songs, but this lawsuit seeks to show that he did not write any of them, did not pay her the correct royalties, and was not transparent.
Diamond is a two-time Grammy Award nominee and has produced 47 Gold and Platinum recordings, as well as over 100 Billboard Charted recordings.
He has produced for singers such as Engelbert Humperdinck and David Hasselhoff.
His website lists him as a composer of songs by Tom Jones, Phoebe Cates, Bill Medley, Tommy James and Jon Secada, among others.
His attorney is calling for a “prompt dismissal” of the lawsuit and insists that Diamond wants “nothing but the best for his friend Gloria.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Gaynor and Randall’s lawyer for comment.