Marley Ringtone Battle Gets Nasty

Disagreements between the Marley family and Verizon spark bad words and legal battles.

There’s no one love in the battle surrounding the use of songs by the late reggae icon Bob Marley as ringtones.   The problem stems from an agreement signed last month between Verizon Wireless and Universal Music, which owns the rights to Marley’s music. Under the agreement, Verizon became theexclusive provider of Bob Marley ringtones.   However, Marley’s family has objected, saying the deal was equivalent to an endorsement, which would need their approval. They’dthreatened to sue to block the deal going through.   Verizon seemed to listen, and the family announced it would no sue because Verizon had “ceded” to their demands, and removed mostof the ringtones. Only 16 remain, songs from the early part of Marley’s career that are not owned by Universal.   And here’s where things begin to get nasty.   The Marley familyis represented by Chris Blackwell. As the former head of Island Records (which is now owned by Universal) he helped bring Marley to global fame. In a statement, he wrote that he was “infuriatedthat Verizon would go around the estate and initiate partnership with Universal” and that it was “disturbing that these companies refuse to give the musicians the respect theydeserve.”   That prompted a reaction from Verizon: They announced they’d be reinstating the ringtones they’d just removed. Then, to add fuel to the fire, Universal announcedthat very soon all carriers would have the Marley ringtones.   Blackwell then said Universal would be named in another suit to be filed shortly. The battle lines, it seems, have been drawn.  According to Universal, the Marley ringtones have been downloaded over 30,000 times in under two weeks.