Chuck D is suing over a publishing deal that reportedly cost him the ownership of Public Enemy’s music. In a report by The Blast, Chuck claims that in 2001, he signed a publishing deal with Reach Global Music and Terrodome Music Publishing with Michael Closter. Chuck says Closter convinced him to form a new independent publishing company that “would administer the publishing rights to his work, which included the rights to his works from his days with Def Jam.”
Chuck D claims that Closter “created a complex master plan that involved, and still involves, unconscionable contracts, hidden transactions, false and fraudulent copyright registrations, and false incomplete accountings.” This reportedly cost the rap icon $1 million and the loss of a “substantial portion of his music publishing catalog.”
The lawsuit states that Chuck didn’t discover the loss until February 2019. This was when “Closter finally produced some of the documents which Chuck D claims he used to defraud him.”
The Public Enemy founder believes that Closter’s plan involved acquiring a 42% interest in his publishing catalog as it existed through 2012. This includes “valuable rights in the music compositions he had authored and co-authored while under contract to Def Jam Music.”
