Over the weekend, Guess Who's classic lineup played their first show in 23 years, commencing their Takin' It Back reunion tour in Ontario. Frontman Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman have been embroiled in legal battles with their former bandmates Jim Kale and Garry Peterson for a while, and it's starting up again.
After the Winnipeg rock group initially broke up in 1975, Kale — who was the founding bassist until he was fired in 1972 — filed a trademark for the band's name and put together a new group under it in 1987. Peterson, the original drummer, joined and together they held the rights to the Guess Who's name since 2006. Kale eventually retired, and Peterson only sometimes played in the band, meaning the Guess Who was often made up of no original members.
In 2023, Cummings and Bachman filed a lawsuit against the lineup of the Guess Who in addition to Kale and Peterson, claiming that version of the Guess Who was a cover band that toured under the false implication that the band's founders would be performing. The following year, Cummings took the dramatic step of terminating performance rights agreements for all of the Guess Who songs that he wrote (including big hits like "American Woman," "These Eyes," and "No Time") because he was "willing to do anything to stop the fake band," he said. A few months later Cummings and Bachman acquired the trademark for the band name, settling their dispute with Kale and Peterson.
"They’re not the people who made these records, and they shouldn't act like they did," Cummings added. "This doesn't stop this cover band from playing their shows; it just stops them from playing the songs I wrote. If the songs are performed by the fake Guess Who, they will be sued for every occurrence."
According to Rolling Stone, Kale and Peterson filed a complaint Wednesday (Jan. 28) against performing rights management firm BMI, saying they suffered millions of dollars in losses when Cummings terminated his performance rights agreement with BMI. Along with booking company BiCoastal Productions, Kale and Peterson claim they spent months plotting their US tour and were in the middle of a soundcheck when BMI's chief legal officer informed them of the termination of the agreement, saying it was "effective immediately," causing them to cancel that night's show and all subsequent dates. Now, Kale and Peterson assert that BMI misinterpreted the termination's effective date.
"Contrary to BMI’s misinformation, a copyright holder cannot simply provide notice of termination of rights effective immediately in such a manner that would force the cancellation of all concerts that had already been planned, organized, and promoted," the lawsuit states. It also argues that if termination really took effect immediately then the company's licensing system is fundamentally flawed by allowing rights holders to rescind permissions at will.
The lawsuit accuses BMI of breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation, intentional interference with contractual relations, and fraud, and it seeks compensatory damages estimated at several million dollars, to be determined at trial, in addition to punitive damages based on BMI's "willful, oppressive, fraudulent, and malicious" conduct.
In a statement, BMI say, "There is no merit to this lawsuit. BMI responded accurately and in accordance with the information provided to us by SOCAN, the foreign society that represents the copyright holders. We stand by our response."
