STONE ROSES RELEASED FROM "OPPRESSIVE, UNFAIR AND EXTREMELY ONE-SIDED" CONTRACT…..
On the morning of May 20, 1991, The Stone Roses were released from their recording contract with Silvertone Records and their publishing agreement with Zomba Music.
None of the group were present to hear High Court Judge Humphries reach his decision, which concluded that both contracts were legally unenforceable.
The court heard that the injunction Silvertone had placed on the Roses (to stop them recording for any other record label) was to be lifted because the original contract, signed in April 1988, was "oppressive", "unfair" and "entirely one-sided", and therefore the injunction acted as a restraint of trade.
During the two-hour hearing, Roses' manager Gareth Evans grinned uncontrollably.
Aspects of the contract found to be unfair included the territorial agreements (i.e. where Silvertone could release Stone Roses records, listed in the contract as "the world and its solar system"!) and a clause which tied the band to the label for nine months after the American release of their last recorded work.
Since Silvertone were not obliged to release material in the States, the latter clause could have tied the band to the label forever. A statement from Silvertone claimed that instead of "United States" this should have read "United Kingdom", and was "a drafting error of the word-processor age".
It was revealed that Silvertone had approached Evans and the band last summer with possible amendments to the contracts. The band and Evans never really discussed these amendments, although Silvertone did claim that since Evans had cashed a cheque from the label around that time, it implied that the group intended to continue work with the company and accepted the terms of the contract.
The judge concluded that, unless the amended contract was signed by Evans and the band, this assumption was also unfair.
As soon as the announcement was heard, Evans rushed out of court to telephone Reni and John Squire whose reaction was a resounding "Fucking great!". Ian and Mani were in Rotterdam, after travelling there to watch Manchester United clinch the European Cup Winners Cup.
"It's been a great week for United and the band," commented Evans afterwards. "We're just very, very pleased."
He confirmed that a six-album, £20 million deal (five times the previously rumoured sum) had been signed with Geffen, who have been paying the band's legal costs during the case.
A single is planned for release as soon as possible, an album is pencilled in for mid-autumn, and there will be a show in England ("A massive surprise on the scale of Spike Island") during the summer.
Evans also confirmed that the Roses have whiled away some of their ample spare time learning to play golf…..
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