Dionne Warwick Hit With Lawsuit By Firm That Has Been Negotiating Her Royalty Deals For Decades – AfroTech
Dionne Warwick is being sued for millions.
Lawsuit Explained
According to Music Business Worldwide (MBW), a complaint was filed against Warwick by Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation, which claims it had a contract with Warwick, signed in January 2002, that would allow it to pocket 50% of her royalties through her work as a Scepter Records artist. It also notes that in February 2922 after signing the contract, Warwick filed a complaint against Warner Bros., Warner Strategic Marketing, Warner Special Products, and Atlantic Recording Corporation over claims that she was not compensated fairly for the royalties from her song “Then Came You.”
The aftermath of the 2002 lawsuit was a settlement that required all future royalty statements and payments owed to Warwick to be directed to Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation, which has been receiving her royalty payments for distribution since, notes MBW.
The rights management firm states it has been working with the artist for decades, “at no cost to her so that she could obtain fair compensation for her vast body of work, which she had not been receiving,” according to MBW.
Fast forward to 2025, Warwick allegedly wants to end her agreement with Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation and requests to be paid directly from Rhino Entertainment Company, Sony, and PPL, according to MBW.
Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation claims its efforts led to more than $2.5 million in revenue and more than $350,000 annually over the past five years, per the outlet.
“Despite the fact that Ms. Warwick’s royalty distribution from the aforementioned recording companies had increased approximately sixtyfold as a result of Artists Rights’ work, Ms. Warwick increasingly expressed her desire to stop paying Artists Rights,” the firm’s legal team said in a statement to MBW.
They also claimed Warwick is “now trying to evade paying Artists Rights hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars,” which, they state would violate her contract with Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation.
“Artists Rights has performed all of its obligations under the contracts,” the firm’s lawyers wrote, per Billboard. “Ms. Warwick has wrongfully and unreasonably repudiated the contracts.”
Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation is requesting that it continue to receive “25% from SoundExchange and PPL and 50% from all other entities,” per MBW. It believes it has “expended great effort and cost to obtain settlements and payments” for Warwick’s royalties.
