Brooklyn a cappella group the Persuasions are suing Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Capitol Records, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and Concord Music Group for alleged unpaid royalties spanning 48 years, Billboard reports and Pitchfork can confirm via court documents. The surviving members of the group have taken the suit to New York Supreme Court.

The Persuasions claim that they never saw any royalties from album sales or streams between 1971 and the present day. When Billboard, spoke to the Persuasions’ attorney Larry Zerner, he stated: “They never paid my clients any of the money. We asked them for the contract. We said we are not getting paid. You are licensing these songs. Where is the contract that gives you the basis for that? Do you think you have the right to do that and not pay my clients? We tried to get an answer and we got no response.” Zerner believes the damages could be worth “millions of dollars.”

The current members of the Persuasions include Jerry Lawson, Jayotis Washington, and Raymond Sanders. James “Bro” Caldon Hayes, Herbert “Turbo” Rhoad, and Jesse “Sweet Joe” Russell, are no longer alive; however, the surviving members allege that none of their former bandmates’ estates have received money owed by the labels. They also insist that they never signed away their intellectual property rights.

Back in 2015, Jamie xx sampled the Persuasions’ 1972 song “Good Times” for his In Colour track “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times),” which featured Young Thug and Popcaan.

https://pitchfork.com/news/the-persuasions-sue-umg-wmg-sonyatv-more-over-48-years-of-unpaid-royalties