US judge rules against Fleetwood Mac founder

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

NEW YORK (AFP) — A US judge ruled in favor of the British Broadcasting Corporation Thursday in a long-running dispute with Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood over distribution rights, local media reported.

The ruling ended a four-year legal saga over the distribution rights for rare music recordings and videotapes within BBC's pop and rock archives.

The dispute centered on a music-sharing deal signed in 2001 in which Fleetwood was supposed to get clearance to release archived material from artists including Bruce Springsteen, U2, Elton John and Santana.

A judge in the state of Maine said that Fleetwood's business partner Joseph McNulty was "obsessed" with wresting exclusive rights from the BBC, even though it was not in the terms of the agreement, the...