George Clinton Loses Copyright Suit

Tuesday, January 30th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) â€” A judge ruled that American funk music star George Clinton can't keep the rights to music he wrote in the late 1970s and early '80s â€” work worth more than $100 million in profits, the singer said on his Web site.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle said Monday that the music written from 1976-83 belonged to Bridgeport Music, a Michigan-based publishing company to which Clinton signed away the rights in a 1983 contract.

Hinkle also barred Clinton from profiting from the songs, saying the singer failed to disclose them in a 1984 bankruptcy filing as possible future income.

The 60-year-old singer argued that he never signed a valid contract. The lawsuit, filed in 1999, also claimed that he lost money from rap music artists using samples of his old songs but not paying fees.

Clinton declined comment as he left the courthouse, the Tallahassee Democrat reported in Tuesday's editions.

A Tallahassee-area resident, Clinton founded the popular funk group Parliament, which later changed its name to Funkadelic. His hits include ``One Nation Under a Groove'' and ``Atomic Dog.''

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On the Net:

George Clinton's Web site: http://www.atomicdawg.com/funk.html