Sony Sued for Lack of Licence to Use T. Rex's "Debora" in 'Baby Driver'

BY Josiah HughesPublished Aug 3, 2017

Edgar Wright's high-octane comedy thriller Baby Driver is one of the year's most talked-about films, in part thanks to its diverse and massive soundtrack. With that many songs, however, the film was bound to run into legal trouble somewhere. Now it comes in the form of a lawsuit from T. Rex's estate.

In a 2014 lawsuit, Rolan Feld, son of the late T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan, won a lawsuit granting him rights to 144 works from T. Rex. Now he has filed a lawsuit against Sony claiming that they failed to clear the use of the T. Rex song "Debora" in the film.

As The Hollywood Reporter explains, Feld is seeking disgorgement of profits and punitive damages. He claims that the use of song has damaged future synch opportunities.

"Inexplicably, Defendants failed to obtain — or even seek — the permission of the composition's U.S. copyright holder Rolan Feld," the complaint reads. "In the six weeks since Feld brought this infringement to Defendant Sony's attention, Defendants have done little more than point fingers at one another — and they have neither apologized nor offered to pay Feld a reasonable license fee."

Feld first learned that Baby Driver was using the song when a Sony representative contacted his lawyer to request a licence. "In other words, at least one division of Sony had no trouble determining Plaintiff was the rightful owner of the U.S. copyright in the composition," the complaint reads. "Plaintiff promptly informed Defendants (through communications with Sony) that the use of the Composition in the Film was unauthorized."

Read the full lawsuit here.

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