Verizon Still a Bob Marley Provider
Bob Marley's family isn't singing any redemption song just yet.
Verizon Wireless started selling Marley ringtones again Friday, less than a week after briefly removing the content from its Website because the late reggae icon's estate threatened to sue for trademark infringement.
Fifty Six Hope Road Music Ltd., the company owned by Marley's estate, had just announced Thursday that the wireless provider had complied with its demands.
"It is disturbing that these companies refuse to give the musicians the respect they deserve," Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, speaking on behalf of the Marley estate, said in a statement accusing Verizon and Universal Music Group, which owns the singer-songwriter's catalog, of trying to circumvent the family. (Marley recorded most of his greatest hits for Island Records, which is owned by Universal.)
Verizon inked an exclusive licensing deal with Universal last month but Fifty Six Hope maintains that it never authorized the use of Marley's name and likeness.
Verizon initially took down the ringtones on Monday to give the other parties time to sort the matter out.
But, labeling the issue a beef between Fifty Six Hope and Universal, Verizon instead went back to offering snippets of dozens of Marley tunes, including hits such as "No Woman, No Cry," "I Shot the Sheriff," "Get Up, Stand Up" and "Buffalo Soldier." Verizon.com doesn't differentiate as to whether Marley recorded the songs when he was with the Wailers or later on as Bob Marley & the Wailers, and a search for Marley material will turn up variations on all three.
Universal, which announced this month that it will start offering Marley's music to other wireless companies, as well, said in a statement Thursday that its relationship with Verizon in this matter strictly pertained to ringtones and that it wasn't an "overall endorsement" of the carrier.
Verizon spokeswoman Nancy Stark said Friday that the company hadn't yet heard from any of Marley's heirs in response to its decision to repost the ringtones.
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