Beach Boys Lose $60 Million Intellectual Property Lawsuit Against Music Memorabilia Collector And Former Rocker Roy Sciacca

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Beach Boys Lose $60 Million Intellectual Property Lawsuit Against Music Memorabilia Collector And Former Rocker Roy Sciacca

Former Rock 'n Roll musician Roy A. Sciacca won a resounding victory against The Beach Boys on Monday, April 2, when Judge Manuel L. Real of the United State District Court for the Central District of California tossed out a $60 million lawsuit filed last year by the group's corporate entity, Brother Records, Inc. The lawsuit accused Sciacca of stealing a treasure trove of original Beach Boys lyric sheets, sound recordings, videotapes, photographs and other items from a warehouse in 1994. Sciacca is an avid collector of memorabilia from a variety of music and entertainment legends, including Elvis Presley.

Following the $1.25 million sale in 2005 of Beatle John Lennon's original handwritten lyrics to the 1967 song "All You Need is Love," Sciacca contacted auctioneer CooperOwen's Music Legends to arrange the sale of some of The Beach Boys' original lyric sheets and other items he had purchased at a warehouse sale in the 1980s. Brother Records got wind of the pending sale and put a stop to it by filing the lawsuit claiming, among other things, copyright, trademark, and right of publicity infringement. The judge found there was no evidence to support Brother Records' claims, however, and dismissed them with prejudice.

"Roy is a great admirer of The Beach Boys' works. He appreciates their artistic and historical importance and was devastated by the claim that he violated the Beach Boys' rights," said G. Cresswell Templeton, a partner at Hill Farrer & Burrill LLP, and one of Sciacca's trial attorneys. "We are pleased the judge agreed with us and entered judgment in Roy's favor, so, hopefully, he can now begin to repair his reputation and move on with his life." Sciacca was also represented in the case by intellectual property rights attorney and Hill Farrer & Burrill partner, William "Buz" White.

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