These notably include the rights to any malpractice claim DM filed against its former counsel (we presume a claim exists regarding DM’s misunderstanding that it purchased the composition rights to “Whoomp!” from the Bellmark bankruptcy estate), and songs written, recorded or produced by the Watsons, as well as songs “recorded by the artist known as Prince by whatever name, names or symbols he is known.” The settlement also sets forth a process for the chapter 7 trustee and the Watsons to sort through master recordings in storage and turn them over to the proper party under the settlement. Certain assets were transferred to Mark and David Watson, the founders of DM. Tag Team will receive a portion of the income derived from exploitation and any future sale of the rights to “Whoomp!” and may recover performance royalties from third parties. DM’s rights to “Whoomp!” are among the assets Alvert received as part of the settlement. The global settlement approved by the bankruptcy court on September 28, 2017, provides for Alvert to receive all of DM’s assets, other than certain specifically excluded property. In June 2017, the chapter 7 trustee struck a deal with Alvert and Tag Team to resolve the parties’ disputes. The trustee’s complaint conceded that DM may have owed Tag Team royalties under the Bellmark recording agreement, which was an asset of DM’s estate. Shortly thereafter, the chapter 7 trustee sued Tag Team seeking quiet title over “Whoomp!” because Tag Team asserted ownership over the recording and performance copyrights, although Tag Team did not file a claim in the bankruptcy case. However, in 2016, DM’s chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case was converted to a chapter 7 liquidation case because, among other reasons, DM was not generating enough revenue to continue operating in chapter 11. Initially, DM sought to reorganize its liabilities under chapter 11of the Bankruptcy Code.

Bell’s claim to about $1.3 million in attorney’s fees under the Copyright Act, on top of the judgment, was pending in November 2015, when the district court proceedings were halted by DM’s filing of a chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the Southern District of Florida. The judgment was affirmed by the Fifth Circuit in an opinion indicating that Tag Team could seek its share of the royalties from Alvert. Notably, the judgment represents 100% of copyright damages, even though Bell owned only 50% of the copyright. In 2012, the Eastern District of Texas determined that Alvert owned the “Whoomp!” composition rights, and a jury awarded Bell over $2.2 million as damages for copyright infringement. DM’s ownership of the recording and performance rights to “Whoomp!” was undisputed. Rather, Bell contended those rights were assigned to Alvert Music, a third party affiliated with Bellmark, prior to Bellmark’s bankruptcy filing. In 2002, the former president of Bellmark, Alvertis Bell, sued DM for copyright infringement, regarding the composition rights to “Whoomp!” Bell contended the composition rights to the song were not among the assets DM purchased from Bellmark’s bankruptcy estate. Following the sale, DM exploited the recording, performance, and composition rights to “Whoomp!”

DM was a music content company that licensed 90’s chart toppers like “Whoomp!” and “Macarena” for use in movies, television shows, video games, and ads. purchased substantially all of Bellmark’s assets for $166,000. As part of Bellmark’s bankruptcy proceedings, DM Records, Inc. Under the recording agreement, Tag Team assigned half of its copyright interest in the song to Bellmark. In 1993, Tag Team, which is comprised of artists Cecil Glenn and Steven Gibson, entered into a recording agreement with Bellmark Records governing the ownership in the composition, recording, performance, and royalty rights to the song. The dispute and its resolution showcase a not uncommon end for large IP judgments: the judgment debtor files for bankruptcy and the judgment creditor is left to recover against the bankruptcy estate’s assets. 24 years after Tag Team’s hit song “Whoomp! (There It Is)” topped the charts, a long and ugly dispute regarding ownership rights to the song and related copyright infringement damages has been settled in bankruptcy court.

Whoomp there it is