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Bob Marley’s Family Loses Court Battle Over Rights To His Songs

According to a report by Reuters, the family of legendary reggae artist Bob Marley has lost a lawsuit that would have given them sole rights to some of the icon’s most celebrated recordings. Instead a U.S District Court awarded the recording rights of five Marley albums to Universal Music Group Recordings.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan said the UMG Recordings unit of Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group is the rightful owner of copyrights to five albums that Marley had recorded between 1973 and 1977 for Island Records.

The albums “Catch a Fire,” “Burnin’,” “Natty Dread,” “Rastaman Vibrations” and “Exodus” were recorded with Marley’s band The Wailers. They include some of Marley’s best-known songs, including “Get Up, Stand Up,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” “No Woman, No Cry” and “One Love.”

This isn’t a good month for the Marley’s.

As recently reported, earlier this month Marley’s youngest daughter, Makeda Marley, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, stemming from a 2008 incident where officers found several g@nja plants in her Caln, Pennsylvania home, 30 miles west of Philadelphia.