Fuzed Gospel

When thinking of the Gospel or the good news of Jesus Christ, people assume that there aren’t any challenges or when it comes to legal matters, God gives a waiver that would tell a person to avoid suing someone in Court. That is so far from the truth. In 1 Timothy 5:8, the bible teaches that a laborer is worthy of his/her reward. Simply saying that a person, who works, is worth receiving rightful pay for their job. I find that in one of the cases that I found within the Gospel entertainment industry, that a Gospel singer received an email that God told his record label that the gospel singer was not ready yet to receive payment for services, in which payment was required according to a contract that was signed. I totally believe God could say, “hold off on payment” but I also know that God is wise and able to flow in order. And I also know that God can be random too, but if that’s that case, just follow through with what God said and don’t bend. In the cases that I have found, there are dealings with copyright infringement, intimidation, and broken contracts. In my opinion, I know it is a struggle to do everything right, but with the help of being lead by the Holy Spirit, one can’t go wrong.

The Cases and my opinion:
1. Tyler Perry Slapped With Another Gospel Copyright Lawsuit
I know how much Tyler Perry has intertwined African American culture within his plays and movies, so I can see how easy it is for him to slip up and use Gospel songs or sayings. These very saying are at the core of what the African American community can relate to. In this case he is being sued for using Johnny Stringfields lyrics from his gospel song “I Got Away” in a Meet the Browns episode.

Stringfield wants about $100,000 to cover the infringement of copyright. It is shown that Tyler Perry has been down this road before with lifting other people’s songs in his movies, but in my opinion, what he is being sued for, is chump change. He grossed over $50 million for “A Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” so a $100,000 price tag is peanuts. Tyler Perry should cross his t’s a little better because if people catch on, those peanuts will begin to draw some big elephants.

2. Gospel Singers Tricked by Record Execs
In this case, Sony EMG Music Entertainment is accused of intimidating/tricking singers in firing their Music Agent. The singers say that if they didn’t they were made to feel that they were not going to be able to continue to write/sing music. The Agents name is James Walker representing people such as Donald Lawrence, and Twinkie Clark. It is rumored that the execs didn’t want to negotiate through him anymore because he was getting the artists, he was representing, too much money, and the execs wanted to keep them underpaid.

I hope this was taken care of without illegally breaking any contracts, but since the artist let him go, and not the label, I don’t think Walker has that much of strong case. Time still has yet to reveal the results of this situation.

3. Thomas vs. Habakkuk: The Gospel Singer Won’t Buy the God Story
This is the case that mentioned God had told the record label to hold off on paying Isaiah Thomas, a gospel singer, his $30,000 contractual advance. A Judge due to lack of personal and subject matter jurisdiction has recently dismissed this case. Before the ruling, I almost snickered at why the singer wasn’t paid. Not because God said what He did, but because it was allegedly sent through email, and received after the singer already came out of pocket for producing his sophomore album with the record label.

I would just say that God is God and I wouldn’t recommend going against what He has told you to do. But the same God that makes such bold statements is also the same God that was present when signing a binding Contract. The Bible talks about abiding by the law of the land, and that would include legal contracts. I pray that this doesn’t leave an unnecessary bad smear on Christians wanting to do business in the Entertainment Industry.

In these cases, I learned that everyone should always have someone double checking every decision you make, and knowing what your contract upholds you and the person you are doing business with to. If you do that I’m pretty sure that will be the beginning of walking in a good direction.

Abiding by the Law,

~Morris