Following is my entire written correspondence with Rounder Records. To put this in context; I had called Ken Irwin in March 2004, explaining the situation and asking him to tell Madeleine’s lawyer Jeffery Greenberg to stop threatening labels and distributors who offered to sell GYOMM, while claiming to represent Rounder. Ken claimed he had not heard about the situation before and that he would bring it up with his legal department and get back to me. After a week of no response, I called Bill Knowlin and had a similar exchange. Bill also claimed ignorance of the situation, and also said he would get back to me. After a week of waiting for his call, I called Lauren Calista, Rounder’s PR mouthpiece, to tell her that Rounder’s press releases claiming that Madi had not recorded anything since “Dreamland” in 1996, were incorrect. Lauren was rude and dismissive and told me Rounder’s company line, that GYOMM was a demo, made and owned by Madeleine for Rounder’s use. When I asked to be connected with Ken Irwin, the receptionist told me I was prohibited from speaking with him. That is when I wrote the letter below.
My final conversation with Rounder was with John Verante. Greenberg had claimed that Madeleine’s contract with Rounder forbade my selling GYOMM other than at Madeleine’s shows. I asked Verante if I could see this contract and he told me there was no way I would never see it. Subsequently I obtained the contract by subpoena and , as I expected, the contract restricts Madeleine to selling GYOMM only at her shows but mentions neither my name or my copyright, ownership and authorship interests in the album. Either Greenberg lied to Rounder about my interests in the CD, or Rounder knowingly entered into a contract intentionally drafted to defraud me. In either case, Rounder continues to endorse Greenberg’s position.
In June, 2004 Rounder tried to have a protective order served against me. This request to federal judge Louis Stanton states: “Galison continued to make harassing phone calls and send harassing e-mails to various high level executives at Rounder despite the fact in March and again in April [Verante] explicitly advised Galison to stop calling.” The motion was brought before Judge Stanton and immediately dismissed when Stanton read the enclosed correspondence.
From: WGalison@aol.com [mailto:WGalison@aol.com]
Sent: Fri 4/9/2004 10:39 AM
To: Ken Irwin; Info
Subject: To Ken Irwin re: Madeleine Peyroux CD
Dear Ken,
I was surprised and disappointed to find that you have decided to prohibit me from calling you. Our last conversation was cordial, even friendly- and I got the impression that you were sympathetic to my position in the matter. I had a very positive impression of you and for the first time in months felt that this matter might be resolved without legal action. You seemed sincerely surprised to find out Rounder's legal position and promised to discuss the matter with your legal department. When I did not hear back from you or your colleagues, I called your partner Bill and explained the situation to him in similar terms. He also seemed receptive and concerned.
From the beginning, my representatives and I have tried to be as forthcoming and conciliatory as we could. I am about the least litigious person in the world, but I have been forced to sue Madi and your friend Jeff Greenberg because they have threatened my livelihood and reputation. To be very blunt, Rounder is backing the wrong horse in this situation. Jeff Greenberg and his firm may or may not have more money or influence than I do, but in this case they are morally and legally wrong. Rounder is seemingly endorsing Greenberg's aims and strategy. I should add that there may still be an opportunity for both Rounder and me to both benefit from the release of my CD with Madi, but it will take cooperation and creativity- and discussion.
You described yourself to me as an "ex-hippie". I describe myself the same way. I have to wonder; does this mean that you used to be hippie and now you are something else, or does it mean that your values are still informed by the ideals of the sixties; fairness, justice, social conscience? I know what it means to me.
With all the corruption and deception we hear about daily on the news: Martha Stewart, Enron, Tyco, George Bush..... This is a time for us to take a spiritual inventory. Are your actions consistent with your values? This past year I have clung to the notion that Madi has been coerced into her position by greedy and unscrupulous "handlers"- this may still prove to be the case. These past weeks I have hoped that Rounder's position was guided by lawyers and clerks without the consent of the owners. Am I wrong?
I look forward to hearing from you soon. I am willing to answer any questions you may have in order to clarify this situation
Best wishes,
William
Dear William:
I enjoyed our conversation and was sympathetic to your situation. I was hearing most of what you said for the first time, but as I mentioned, I do not deal with legal issues. We have two people who are properly trained who work with us for such matters and I have found them both to be hard working and ethical in their dealings. I did bring up our conversation with one of them as I said I would.
Our business affairs people handle their area of the company's business as the art department handles theirs. I deal with the artists I work with and that does not include Madeleine whom I've never met and only even seen perform once in my life. We trust the people we work with to make the right decisions for our company and for the artists we are working with.
This is not something that I will be drawn into and I hope that you will respect that. I have my work and my artists to look after and that is where my time and efforts belong. From what you say, it seems that your battles are with Madeleine and her representatives.
I wish you well and feel badly that you find yourself in the position you are in.
Best for now,
Ken
________________________________
After my conversation with Lauren Callista and John Verante, Ken Irwin wrote the following:
In a message dated 4/13/2004 8:42:08 AM Eastern Daylight Time, kirwin@rounder.com writes:
>> Dear William:
While I am trying to understand your situation and be sympathetic to it, you are not helping your situation by calling various people at Rounder. I would guess that you are having the opposite effect to what you are trying to accomplish. I'm sure that you have only the best intentions, but you may not be aware of the effect you have on people. Additionally, we need our workers to be able to do their work.
Best for now,
Ken<<
Dear Ken:
Thanks for your sympathy and understanding. Regarding my intentions and what I am trying to accomplish; for the past four months I have been trying to mitigate the consequences of Mr. Greensburg's actions. I have been trying to salvage Madi's career and Rounder's reputation and to avoid a legal mess by being honest, conciliatory and communicative. I appealed to the moral authority of you and your partner Bill, but you decided to delegate this authority to your legal department. I called your legal department to request a copy of the contract that seeks to limit my legal rights, in order to avoid the subpoena and court orders that are now pending. I called your publicity department to inform them that the press release regarding Madeleine's upcoming CD is incorrect and misleading.
You can be assured that I have no further reason to contact Rounder.
It may be you that is not be aware of the effects you have on people. Mr. Greenberg's efforts to supress my commercial rights and damage my career and Rounder's endorsement of these efforts have disrupted every aspect of my life.
Furthermore, this endorsement has now put your personal friend Mr. Greenberg and your artist Madeleine in a grave legal predicament. I am not concerned about Mr. Greenberg's situation, but I am concerned about Madeleine's career and her psychological well being.
{THIS PARAGRAPH IS REDACTED IN THE INTEREST OF MS. PEYROUX’S PRIVACY}
Rounder could have defused this whole situation months ago with one word to Greenberg, but you chose to pursue an immoral and arguably illegal strategy to deny me my rights.
I don't know if you are a naive lovable old hippie or a soul less corporate shark, but I expect you to do everything in your power to help Madi through the situation that your company contributed to.
I remain available to communication from you personally, but I will not speak to your lawyers.
Sincerely,
William Galison
