If you are reading this letter, then there is a meaningful reason that it has been

sent to you, which will become apparent in the reading. With respect, I crave
your indulgence in your taking the time to read and absorb this letter in full. Its
long and a little complex, but it is very, very important, it will repay your
attention.

If you are an artist, I would ask you to read this letter and then make your feeling
known to the industry and to your label and your friends.

If you are a Sony artist, I would ask you to read this carefully and then ask
yourself if this is the way you want your label to do business and then tell your
label how you feel.

If you are a writer, reporter or journalist, I would like you to read this, undertake
such further research as you see fit, and take this to the public. It is a unique and
shattering story.

PRE-AMBLE:
Rock and Roll has had its fair share of tragedies, during its short history as king
of popular culture. The greatest attention has been focussed on the usual cast of
drugs, drink and wasted talent, but by far the deepest and most damaging
tragedies have always been associated with artists with family and sibling roots.
You all know most of them The Jacksons, The Beach Boys, The Everly Brothers,
Marvin Gaye but you probably dont know anything about the deepest and
most far-reaching of these tragedies, and the name of the band involved will
surprise you.

IN PLAIN LANGUAGE:
This is a deep-rooted, teen-age tragedy that continued on, through adulthood,
into middle-age and beyond. It is a story of glittering success, millions and
millions of dollars in revenue, massive and hysterical adulation, and an enduring
heritage of music, mythology and more. It is the story of a classic pop group,
classic pop records and a ground-breaking style and memorable image that is
cherished, remembered and emulated to the present day.
But it is also the story of a controlling, abusive, divisive and immoral manager,
with criminal and unwholesome appetites, of dishonest and conniving advisors
and so-called, friends, and of huge deception on a massive scale by all the
players in the story, except those being deceived. It is the story of the breakdown and failure to serve, of the legal system of the most powerful nation in the
world. And the ultimate, eventual and absolute loss of everything they had
created and deserved, at the hands of those who most should have protected
them.. This is the story of The Bay City Rollers.

THE BACKGROUND:
The Bay City Rollers were formed in the late 1960s by brothers, Alan and Derek

Longmuir and had their first hit in 1971, after signing to Bell Records in the UK.
Their classic line-up of Alan and Derek Longmuir, Eric Faulkner, Les McKeown and
Stuart Woody was in place by 1974 and their global career took off
immediately.

Between 1974 and 1981 they were the biggest teen band on the planet and had
audience and fan adulation and hysteria on a par with The Beatles. They had hit
records throughout the world and their merchandise sales were astronomical.
They were one of the biggest selling UK acts of the 1970s globally, with huge
sales in the target territories of Japan and the USA, as well as all the other major
territories. They became the first Boy Band and created that genre
phenomenon, which endures undiminished, to this day. They generated millions
and millions of dollars in records sales, merchandise, memorabilia and
performing. They had their own TV shows in the UK and US and still hold the
attendance record for the Budokan, in Tokyo - Japans premier venue.
Thats the good news.

They were managed from the start by Tam Paton, a larger than life figure, who
featured prominently in their story and attracted public interest to the same
degree that Brian Epstein did, with The Beatles. Paton, who would later be jailed
for gross indecency with young boys, was a physically intimidating, violent, and
controlling man, who gave none of his artists any personal freedom or control of
their careers. Paton was openly gay (at a time when that was very unusual), and
very friendly with Jonathan King (who negotiated the bands first record deal) and
he always worked with a large entourage of minor hard men and young
wanabees, who ran his affairs and did his bidding with an iron fist - and always
strictly in accordance with his wishes - which were often less than professional.
Paton asserted complete control of The Bay City Rollers during his tenure as their
manager and his operating management style was clearly defined by his
controlling, often violent and abusive behaviour and possibly far, far worse.

Between 1970 and 1975 the band was signed to Bell Records, a subsidiary of
Columbia Pictures, which was run by Clive Davis, who had been fired from CBS
earlier. In 1975 Davis set up Arista Records as a single home for all the Columbia
Pictures labels. Along the way, he cleaned house and dropped most of the acts,
previously signed to the various Columbia Pictures labels. However, he retained a
few, who significantly became the early mainstays of Arista Records particularly
The Bay City Rollers and Barry Manilow. During their tenure with Bell, the band
had huge success in the UK, Europe and many territories, generating massive
amounts of money, which sadly, they never received or even saw. But their
established success gave Arista a great kick-start with huge teen market,
globally.

THE STORY:
When they were taken from Bell Records by Clive Davis, the band was signed to
his newly-formed Arista Record label in a very unusual way. Although Tam Paton
was wholly inexperienced in international commerce and tax affairs, he had
somehow acquired a team of established, high-profile accountants and lawyers
in the US, to represent the band. Paton later said that he had been guided to

these industry professionals by the new label and Clive Davis. This professional
dream team created a highly complex and unusual signing structure to
connect the band to Arista Records. There were three companies directly
involved in the signing, and the band was not personally signed or directly
connected to the label at all. Their interests were legally completely taken over
and represented by the US accountants, who set up a company, which they
controlled, to deal with the signing and all the administration and money,
generated by the bands activities. Layered out, beneath this company, there
was a network of many other companies and, not unexpectedly, the band saw
nothing of their record royalties or their merchandising money and were, once
again, left penniless and running on empty.

The band eventually took formal steps to rectify this problem, including
commissioning a UK and a US audit of Arista Records, which discovered sums in
excess of millions of dollars owing, but by the time their dispute was eventually
settled (out of court) in 1981, they only retrieved a minimal amount of money
and were left with huge legal bills, after their long fight. When Les McKeown left
the band in 1978, he was evicted from the house that he had been told that he
owned, because he was no longer involved with the band. The house was the
property of one of the companies. None of them owned anything or had any
personal money and the huge profits of their efforts up to that time had all gone
to third parties. This amounted to tens of millions of dollars. Where it went
remains a mystery.

Following the settlement of the dispute with the lawyers and accountants, Davis
re-signed the band to Arista, but again, not in a conventional contract they
were just placed into the existing deal in place of the entity created by the
lawyers, which was not a natural or elegant action. . A part of the deal was the
recognition, within it, of the unpaid audit that had been undertaken some years
earlier, which left hugely significant sums of money owing from Arista, to the
band, before the new deal had even started. And now we move to the core of
their present position

Under the new arrangement, the band was contractually due to receive regular
royalty accounts and payments from Arista Records from 1979 to the present
day, for sales of all their recordings and all receipts derived therefrom. At that
time, in addition to the unpaid audit monies the band was generating major
sales, particularly in Japan, Australia and the USA. However, from the day of the
new agreement to the present day, the band has never received any scheduled
royalty payment whatsoever from Arista Records, and received no royalty
accounts whatsoever, until Sony Musics initial involvement with the company in
2004, (prior to their full take-over of Arista in 2008), at which point basic
accounts for the relevant 6 month period, began to be generated.

THE RUN AROUND:

From the very beginning, the band and their lawyers and professional advisors
continually asked, requested and pleaded for royalty statements and payments,
but nothing was ever forthcoming. Between 1981 and 1996 (when I became
involved), countless requests were made of Arista, but all were ignored. When I

came on board in 1996, armed with some experience of rock n roll disputes, I
aggressively pursued Arista and managed to achieve a fractured dialogue of
correspondence with them, during which period they formally acknowledged that
the band was due royalty payments and statements, but they still refused to
provide these continually promised payments or even royalty statements. And,
despite the fact that they (Arista) continued to promise, on many occasions, to
pay the band in full, these payments never materialised. More significantly,
Arista stated that there were no records available to create any royalty
accounts significantly, something they would continually repeat, and
something which they relied upon at later times.

I continued to press hard and had personal meetings with various members of
Aristas legal team, all of whom promised to settle the matter and none of
whom did. By this time, late 1990s through early 2000s the bands back
catalogue had been actively and successfully promoted throughout the world
and the accrued and ongoing royalties were very significant. I continually
advised the band to enter into a formal litigation with Arista, but they were
always nervous about taking such a step, as they were all totally penniless and
had never seen litigation result in any meaningful benefit for them. And, against
all odds, they were seemingly mindful to believe Aristas continual assurances
that they would get paid, which I knew to be wholly false.

In 2004, Sony Music entered into a 50/50 joint venture with BMG, who had
quietly bought a holding interest in Arista some time earlier. Yet, despite the
direct involvement of these huge, major, music industry companies, Clive Davis
somehow still managed to retain personal control of Arista, apart from a short
sojourn in 2000. This notwithstanding, it was my feeling that a huge, global
multi-national company like Sony would want to do the right thing and the log
jam might finally break. Accordingly Sony was contacted and given the
opportunity to pay and account to, the band. They chose not to pay, although
Sony started to provide accounts around that point, albeit only from the time of
their formal involvement forward.

THE LAWSUIT:
As all commercial attempts to retrieve the monies due to the band had failed to
get them paid - finally, in 2006 - the band acknowledged the inevitable and a
deal was struck with a US Law firm Holland & Knight - to represent the band on
a contingency basis, in a formal lawsuit against Arista/Sony. In March 2007 The
Bay City Rollers action against Arista/Sony was issued and the dispute took on a
new complexion. As I write this the date is March 2015 almost 8 years since
the complaint was filed and still with no resolution or even a date for a Trial of
the issues. I am astonished and horrified at the actions of the Court and the
direction that the US legal system has taken this case in but I will come to that
later.

During the 8 years that have elapsed since the complaint was issued, there have
been some significant milestones. In 2008, Sony Music bought BMG out of their
Joint venture and became the outright owners of Arista Records but nothing
changed. On May the 5th, 2009, the original presiding Judge in the case Judge

Norah Batts, recused herself (stood down), on the basis of a conflict of interest
that was understood to involve Sony Music in some way, and was replaced by
Judge Loretta Preska, the Senior Judge in the New York State Southern Circuit. In
May 2011 - 4 years after the Action was started - there was a Mediation, with
Wade Leak, Sony Musics new Head of Legal and Business Affairs in attendance,
along with Sonys lawyers, the bands lawyers and myself. I made an
impassioned plea on behalf of the band, for a reasonable settlement of the
dispute but nothing changed. The Mediation failed. Since then the case has
moved at ponderously slow speed, with no perceptible progress being made. 8
years after issuing the lawsuit, the band still awaits a Trial date. Nothing has
changed.

THE STING:
The net effect of all of this commercial activity is that the band a hugely
successful, highly significant, 1970s, global phenomenon, has never been paid,
at any stage, by any label, distributor or owner that has operated their record
company Arista Records Inc. And we are talking about huge sums of money
here. At the time of the Mediation and before the forensic audit by the bands
retained expert had been completed, the amounts calculated to be due were in
the range of $34.2 million to $119.3 million and Aristas conceded amount was
equivalent to (circa) $3,725,000 or thereabouts. The disparity in the numbers is
immediately apparent, but this is not the unkindest cut.

Until the formal involvement of Sony as a full owner, the failure to pay the band
had been based upon an (essentially) semi-independent label, run at the whim of
its proprietor, which chose not to honour its payment obligations to a longstanding, rostered act not entirely unheard of in the Old Wild West world of the
1960s styled sole owner/proprietors just Google Chris Blackwell, Berry Gordy
and Clive Davis and youll see how much leeway that style of self-styled sole
owner gave themselves back in the day. That Davis was still around and, despite
the involvement of BMG (and then Sony) was still in control right up to the
demise of Arista as an active company, speaks volumes about his tenacity and
staying power, but not much about his ability to do the right thing and pay his
act.
But that should all have changed completely, when Sony Music became involved,
back in 2004. They were, and remain, a huge, massively wealthy, global multinational with an enviable artist roster, initially derived from the old CBS Records
label - which was run by Clive Davis, until he was sacked. This kind of outmoded,
cheap and shabby behavior belongs to an era long, long gone and Sony Music
should have jumped on that and made settlement of this dispute an immediate
priority at the moment of their involvement. That they didnt and that they also
failed to do so in 2008, when they became sole and outright owners of the
company is absolutely disgraceful and totally unacceptable.
Sony Music - a huge, respected media company, in the vanguard of the modern
era and the heart of the US music industry, but acting like a back-street
abortionist in the dark old days of our unenlightened past. How could that
possibly be happening? I was completely astonished by the sheer callousness of
their stance and position.
If we look at what was (kind of) acceptable behaviour (if you werent caught) in
the 1960s and 1970s in the areas of sexual harassment in the workplace,
gender and colour discrimination , and under-age sexual activity, the massive
sea-change in perception and what is acceptable is palpable. What people got
away with back then would never be accepted now, and this disgusting, greedy
and grubby little deception of Aristas, in our world of music is no exception. So
now, more than 30 years later, and in the totally altered landscape of this
century, how can a huge company like Sony Music accept, condone and continue
this behavior, long, long after it became globally unacceptable, is beyond
understanding. And the fact that their Head of Legal Affairs saw this as a war to
win and not a wound to heal, speaks volumes about him and about Sony Music.
THE SIMPLE FACTS:
The band is probably actually owed somewhere around $50/75 million after
simple interest has been applied. Sony Music however, has suggested that it
may offer $2.5 million, which, after the lawyers hard costs and their (greatly
reduced) fees and the bands UK legal contingency have all been paid and third
party costs have been applied, leaves the band members with about $30/40
each, before tax. The bands legal fees are presently around $5million in fees
and $800,000 in hard costs and rising. Sonys costs will be around the same. So if Sony had applied the cost of their lawyers to the offer at the start of this farce,
it would have equated to around $8 million. If Sony applied the cost of the
lawyers to the conceded amounts due, it would stand at around $9.5 million.
And years of heartache, suffering and misery saved.
This should have been done the moment that Sony Music became aware of the
problem, but it wasnt.

Sony could have done this in 2004, when they first became involved.But they
didnt.
Sony could have done this in 2007,
when the Lawsuit was issued.But they didnt
Sony could have done this in 2008, when they became 100% owners of
AristaBut they didnt
Sony could have done this in 2009, when
the Judge found for the bandBut they didnt
Sony could have
done this in 2011, at the time of the Mediation..But they didnt
Sony could have done this in 2011 at the time of the Judges Cross Motion
RulingBut they didnt Sony could have done this in 2012 at the time of the
Judges re-RulingBut they didnt
Sony could have done this on
Tuesday, last week, just because it is the right thing to do
But they
didnt, because..
Some things never change. The big guys screw the little guys, and the circle
remains unbroken.
The guys with all the money want more and they take it from the guys with no
money.
The music business is now all about business and
not much to do with music.
The Bay City Rollers
built Arista and made millions for both Arista and Sony Music.
But the Bay City Rollers have no power, and Sony Music has all the power.
Absolute power corrupts, absolutely.
So screw em..!

THE GREAT US LEGAL SYSTEM SURELY THAT WILL SAVE US?

You would be forgiven for thinking that this much bad luck and trouble would
have been enough for Robert Johnson to contend with, but theres more so, in
date order just read down
1. On the 20th March 2007, the band filed their lawsuit and Judge Deborah
Batts was appointed to act.
2. On the 21st May 2007 Arista filed a Motion to Dismiss the Action, on the
basis of The Statute of Limitations. It was a simple Motion for the Judge to
rule on.
3. On the 5th March, 2009, Judge Batts ruled in the bands favour. This simple
ruling had taken almost 2 years.
4. On the 5th May, 2009, Judge Batts recused herself from the Action and was
replaced by Judge Loretta Preska. Judge Batts stated a conflict of interest,
which was understood to involve Sony Music.
5. On the 5TH May 2009, Judge Loretta Preska took over the case. Curiously,
Judge Preska had been involved in a recent conflict of interest issue. In the
matter of Digital Music Antitrust Litigation, over which she presided. This
was also understood to involve Sony Music.
6. Between Christmas 2009 and New Year, a trial date had been set for 1 st
March 2010.

7. On the 16th February, 2010, Judge Preska adjourned this Trial, on the basis
of letter statements received from Arista late in January 2010, to file a
Cross Motion for Summary Judgement which they later formally filed on
the 5th March 2010.
8. On the 5th March, 2010, Arista filed a Cross Motion for Summary
Judgement.
9. On the 26th May, 2011, more than a year after it was filed, Judge Preska
denied the Cross Motion.
10.During late 2011, Arista request the 26th May 2011 Ruling to be
reconsidered.
11.On the 4th December, 2012, Judge Preska denied this request, more than
another year later.
12.On the 15th August, 2011 a new trial date had been set by Judge Preska,
which was scheduled for July 1st, 2012. This trial was subsequently
abandoned by mutual consent.
13.On the 2nd September 2013, our lawyers sent a letter to the Court,
requesting a call with Judge Preska, in connection with her potential
conflict of interest.
14.On the 8th October, 2013 This call took place. We were seriously concerned
about a potential conflict of interest with Judge Preska on the basis that
her husband had worked for Sony Music regularly, at various times and on
the basis of the Digital Music antitrust concerns in a previous music case
heard by Judge Preska, (which were parallel to our own) and which we had
(then) just discovered. Judge Preska denied any conflict and remained as
the Judge of record.
15.On the 12th September 2013, Motions to exclude expert witness Testimony
were filed.
16.On the 15th September 2014 over a year later, Judge Preska ruled on these
Motions, excluding our expert witness and testimony and essentially
reducing our potential claim by 90%.
17.As of today, no date for a Trial has been set by Judge Preska.
The time from first filing our lawsuit to the present date and still with no Trial set
7 years, 11 months and 14 days, as I write this.
CONCLUSIONS:
The time that the US Legal system has taken to NOT reach any kind of
conclusion, or even come near to it in this dispute, is obscene. The question
marks of conflict and timing, hanging over both of the Judges, provide good
cause for concern and unease. The lack of resolution or a firm date for Trial
after 8 years is hard to believe and harder to understand.

The fact that the Judges decisions on the two most significant issues, principally
that of the Statute of Limitations, were found in our favour is significant
(although our position in the Statute issue was very solid), but the fact that the
Judge found against us in the fundamental matter of allowing our expert forensic
accountants evidence into Trial is both damning and staggering, in equal part.
Maybe the fact that Judge Preskas Ruling against us occurred after we had
raised a concern about her possible conflict of interests could be considered, but
who knows? In any event, by the time this Motion was ruled on, almost 8 years
had passed and the Ruling, which should have been a formality, leading directly
to a Jury Trial with an even playing field, is the cause of yet more delay.
And this is a fairly standard-form case legally, involving unpaid music royalties,
where a band hasnt been paid, or accounted to at all, for more than 30 years.
Significantly, for more than 30 years, the band and their lawyers have been
constantly denied any historic royalty information by Sony/Arista (on which our
case would have to be focused) on the basis that it didnt exist and wasnt in the
possession of the record label. So - what a surprise when, at the eleventh hour
(May 3rd 2013, just before the deadline to serve closed and 34 years after we first
asked for them) Sony/Arista discovered files and files of information that our
expert had little time to examine and which was, by obvious definition, highly
prejudiced and open to the most severe interpretation by the Court.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, we didnt trust it and neither should any Judge, at that
late stage in the proceedings and with the continual and documented history
from the supplying party that it didnt even exist. So, what was the proper
course for the Court at that point? Well, I would say to throw out the Sony/Arista
expert and move immediately to a Jury Trial.
Even to stand back and let in the reports of both sides and then move to Trial
would be acceptable. But to throw our guy out, in our own unpaid royalties case,
when their information had been lost or withheld or didnt exist for 34
years?
Come on - that carries the suspension of disbelief to its farthest extent
I have been involved with some significant rock n roll legal actions in a few
different jurisdictions and with lots of artists. I have never seen such undue and
heartless delay in any previous case, particularly where great hardship and
peoples lives, assets, income and survival are at stake. This is, was and always
should have been a straight to Jury Trial, where Sony/Aristas only hope of
success was the interpretation of finer points of arcane Law. The band would only
need to rely on Justice. Jury Trials are pretty good on Justice over Law. And, as
Sony/Aristas sole core defence had been ruled out, it should have gone to Trial
years ago. So why didnt it?
We can only speculate. Our lawyers are highly nervous of Judge Preska,and the
lawyers for Arista seem to feel the same as I guess most US lawyers do. She is
an unusually powerful Judge and the buck stops with her in her significant New
York Court Jurisdiction. Nevertheless, in this case, she has been slow,
uncommunicative, non-transparent and, finally has provided a completely
illogical ruling that is totally out of synch with the case itself and the nature of
similar cases.
A rare lapse
of judgement perhaps, from the Lead Judge in her own Court?
Or something more?

Concerns regarding Judge Preskas impartiality and potential conflicts of interest

have been a well-documented and significant topic across the internet and
beyond for some time, where the nature of her husbands career and interests
have led to her being potentially conflicted on many occasions. And, is she too
far removed from the reality of the rough background and difficult circumstances
that the guys have endured and still suffer (no money, Alans stroke and
worsening heart condition, Dereks unwarranted and unfounded legal difficulties,
their overall lack of resources and no closure on the golden years of their pomp)
to understand the human heart of this case and apply some old-fashioned,
common sense to complement her well-established legal expertise?
You decide - and see below for some background
http://abovethelaw.com/2014/07/lawyerly-lairs-a-judicial-divas-8-7-millionpenthouse/#comments
https://www.google.co.uk/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CEIQFjAF
&url=http%3A%2F%2Famlawdaily.typepad.com
%2FPreska.pdf&ei=lSHuVPzBINL7aoaXguAF&usg=AFQjCNF1d3W2ZgyzbvLq6IC
oC37bJBmleg&sig2=fhhzH-7i5JaK0Jg5YkwuIg&bvm=bv.86956481,d.d2s

From the start of the action to her self-imposed recusal, Judge Batts took 2 years
and 2 months, to not get this case to Trial. From the date of her appointment to
the present day, Judge Preska has taken a sliver under 6 years to not get this
case to Trial. Co-incidence?
So is it a co-incidence that this band, who have been plumb out of luck from day
one and never had a single payday in their glittering career, should acquire 2
Judges with potential and/or actual Sony Music conflicts? And then be denied a
fair shake from the US legal system that they could barely afford and that has
failed them so completely? Go figure - then come back and tell me - Id love to
know.
Screwed by their friends, screwed by their manager, screwed by their labels,
screwed by their lawyers, screwed by their accountants, screwed by their
companies, screwed by their global, multi-national parent, and then screwed by
the system - The Bay City Rollers A Rock & Roll Tragedy.
Bad luck and Trouble has been my only
friend

I guess Albert King had more in common with those dirt-poor Scottish kids than
he ever knew

Mark St. John.

(Paris, March 1st, 2015)