Wiggin client Quick Draw wins case against Global Live Events over Michael Jackson Tribute Concert

July 30, 2012

Wiggin LLP has successfully represented finance firm, Quick Draw LP, in proceedings brought against Christopher Hunt, Michael Henry, Iambic Media Limited and Global Live Events LLP (GLE), the organisers of the Michael Jackson Tribute Concert staged at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in October 2011, in relation to claims relating to copyright infringement, dishonest assistance, breach of trust, deceit and the failure to repay loan monies lent to enable the concert to take place.

Quick Draw provided GLE, run by Mr Hunt and Mr Henry, with a short term loan of approximately £5m secured on the intellectual property rights and the promotional materials arising from the concert. When GLE failed to repay the loan, Mr Hunt and Mr Henry claimed that Iambic Media, a production company owned and run by Mr Hunt, owned rights in the Concert.

In November 2011, proceedings were issued in the High Court by Quick Draw.  In January 2012, faced with attempts by Mr Hunt to sell an edited version of the concert, Quick Draw successfully applied for an injunction which prevented the defendants from doing so until the trial took place.

In a judgment handed down in the High Court yesterday, Sarah Asplin QC, sitting as Deputy Judge, held that Quick Draw was the owner of all the rights and materials produced in relation to the concert. Quick Draw was successful in every element of its claim and was awarded indemnity costs.

In reaching her decision, the Judge stated that she had found both Hunt and Henry to be ‘extremely evasive and unreliable witnesses who changed their explanations in relation to important matters on a number of occasions’.

Partner Caroline Kean, who led the team at Wiggin, said: “We are delighted that Quick Draw’s rights have so clearly been upheld, and that the defendants’ claims to ownership of rights, which have cast a pall over the project ever since the concert took place, are unambiguously demonstrated to have no basis in law. Mr Hunt and Mr Henry advanced a number of ingenuous points which, had they been upheld, might well have signaled the end of bridge financing, which is a vital spark for so many projects. This is a clear and sensible decision which everyone involved in the financing of entertainment projects will welcome”.

Sara Giles, adviser to Quick Draw added: “We are very happy with the judgment which ruled in Quick Draw’s favour in all respects. I am delighted that it’s now plain that the rights to the concert material are vested in Quick Draw and that we can now move forward with all interested parties to plan for their release as a fitting tribute to Michael Jackson.”