Documenting the Irish music scam

Summary

In the 80's and 90's Ireland was breaking bands on the international music scene  annually. Since the takeover of the music biz by Bertie Ahern's government in 1997, nothing. Crap country music every night, even on TG4, the Gaelic station. So what happened?

For those in a hurry, it is very simple; musicians can make money by live performances (difficult), broadcast (including the very low paying spotify and its competitors) and mechanical royalties. For over 100 years, the British have held the music world to ransom through the latter, which is the only  substantial source of income. It may surprise you to find out that the rolling stones still do not own the mechanical for "satisfaction"; they were snapped up by allen klein in the great shakeup around 1970's. Ditto the Beatles aka "Lennon/McCartney"; there is a theory that Paul secured them around 2020. 

Not to be outdone, our criminals in Ireland launched a scam of their own. IMRO was not chartered to do mechanicals, but they used patriotism to entice Irish musicians to repatriate their songs from the  British broadcast rights group PPS when IMRO was founded. That gave the criminals - including one Shay Hennessy, and intimate of Ahern's - an opportunity to solidify their theft

So call the cops.....actually, we did, and the newly-founded copyright division thereof did a superb investigation 1999-2003. Then they were disbanded, on  the grounds that, uniquely in the world,  copyright violation was a civil matter in Ireland. We resisted the DPP's "advice "to take a civil action in Ireland - akin to suicide - and instead won cases in the USA in federal court and in the "UK". These documents are an audit trail of how Irish music was destroyed for 2 generations by Dublin-based criminals sheltering in IMRO

Sequence: 1. Late 1980's/ early '90's.Shay Hennessy is fired as head of
K-Tel Ireland. His company Crashed Music Ltd is struck off, despite his prominence as Fianna Fail appointee to many State boards over 30 years to date. The Taxing master later pronounces a judgement of 100,000 pounds against him after his unsuccessful appeal to the EAT.

2. Early 1990's : Oliver Sweeney sets up CBM Ltd. and later its publishing arm
Dog Music Ltd. He signs a multitude of artists to CBM Ltd., including Sean Keane, Cran,Barry Ronan, Draoicht and Melanie O'Reilly. Melanie does not sign a publishing deal, and signs only heads of agreement for one CD recording, as Sweeney himself admits in writing.

3. Mid-1990's : Hennessy claims copyright on Melanie's compositions at MCPS London through the trader name Crashed Music.
  The Gardai are later sent a file of some of these spurious claims, anonymously, though MCPS is itself a possible source.

4. Dec. 1996: CBM Ltd is struck off just as a High Court case taken against it by Sean Keane is about to proceed. CBM Ltd. trades openly after dissolution, until 1998 at
least. Files are sent to Dept. of Ent. Trade & Employment proving this. Paul Vickers, Harney's secretary writes to Melanie stating the precise documentation required for a prosecution. When this is supplied, Dete phones to say that prosecution of CBM Ltd and record services can take place. Other companies are also implicated. In 2006 the head of corporate enforcement, Appleby, promises in person at a meeting convened by him there will be legal action within 2 months . Other complaints were lodged at that time concerning Dog and Excellent Ltd. No prosecutions have occurred 14 years later.

5. Record Services Ltd. , struck off in 2000, continues to trade openly,
even after losing lawsuits and after complaints to DETE. Paul Mc Guinness is listed as one of the Directors and his company Rathgordon pays the pkaintiffs.


6. IMRO gets the unambiguous right to collect for broadcast music in bars
and arts centres in 1996. their monopoly to do so is asserted by Patrick Lyons in circumstances redolent of a conflict of interest

7. Hennessey becomes Chair of IMRO in 1997.

8. Musicians transferring their works to IMRO from the British PRS in the
1990's find miscellaneous publishers like Dog Music Ltd , Crashed Music Ltd. and Gael Linn Teoranta illegally associated with them.

9. Melanie O'Reilly finding the same illegal transfer of her copyright,
goes through the MCPS/PRS Alliance duplicate claims procedure, a procedure accepted by IMRO.

10. Dog Music publishing Ltd. who claim Melanie's/Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill/David Milligan's works on Melanie's album "Tir Na Mara", are written to: -C/O Crashed Music -their common address. Neither reply and copyright is returned to Melanie, Nuala, and David in 2001.

Dog Music publishing Ltd. Have already been dissolved

Mysteriously, Hennessy's illegal claims are done t/a Crashed Music, versus using his company Crashed Ltd. However, only Crashed Ltd, which was reinstated under the auspices of then Minister Bertie Ahern in 1992 is registered to trade as Crashed Music.

11. Matheson Ormbsby Prentice, acting on behalf of IMRO, vociferously
deny Hennessey has any beneficial interest in Melanie's works other than the slight amount associated with Dog Music Ltd.
  This is untrue, as proven later in written correspondence from MCPS. MCPS do not pay Melanie at any stage until threat of imminent legal action in 2006.

12. 2003: MCPS in correspondence with Melanie, mediated by the British
Musicians Union, categorically state that contrary to MOPS repeated objections, Hennessey's Crashed Music had actually claimed Melanie's works. The 250,000 euros, or so , due to Melanie for the illegal licensing of her works as well as the 60,000 euros of legal fees and considerable damages, are therefore due to Melanie.

13. 2000: Melanie, along with other musicians, Maurice Lennon, and Donal
Lunny make detailed statements to the Gardai about copyright fraud involving Dog Music, Crashed and Gael Linn. Melanie finds her compositions and recordings on 8 compilations for which she has not given permission.
Sales figures attested by Nelsen indicate total units of hundreds of thousands in the US, and the benefits did nit reach Melanie or many other musicians. A contract signed without any consultation with these musicians is discovered.

14. Garda Mulvey is taken off the case, but Dail questions ensure a smooth
handover to Garda Mooney. Mooney and Mulvey see preliminary evidence of massive financial fraud at IMRO,with bogus song titles being created, and attributed to musicians without their knowledge, as well as the theft already outlined. The Irish language is often abused to hide spurious songs.

15. 2001-2002: Mulvey and Mooney interview all parties concerned in Ireland
and Britain, and find that all Melanie's, Donal's and Maurice's stories ring true. Mulvey himself buys one of the bootleg Cds in Ireland.

16. 1998: Hennessey signs a deal with Labhras O Murchu of comhaltas agreeing that IMRO can issue a license for Irish music. As much Irish music is not registered with IMRO, and much else is public domain, this is illegal.
While signing, O Murchu denies doing so in the Seanad. Around the same
time Hennessey is made a Peace commissioner

17. The Gardai submit a detailed 120 page file to the DPP who sits on it for almost 2 years. In mid 2003, an article appears in the Sunday Independent saying that the DPP declines to prosecute according to "sources close to the investigation". The Sunday Independent admits IMRO is the source.

18. The Gardai, whose first knowledge of the DPP's decision is the Sunday Independent, are informed of it officially 2 weeks later. The DPP, acting outside his remit, recommends civil action against Hennessey and Sweeney as - rather uniquely in international terms and contrary to the 2000 Irish copyright act – he argued copyright violation is a civil not criminal offence in Ireland. Proceedings taken in Federal court in the USA by Melanie vindicated her.

19. 2004: Mistletoe Music LLC is reliably informed that Hennessey, back on
the board of IMRO after a short absence, is working with Gael-Linn, a former employer of Oliver Sweeney.

20. 2004-2005: The Arts Council of Ireland criticises the IMRO –Murchu deal. Una Bhean Murchu wife of Labhras resigns from the traditional committee chaired by Philip King and ,issues a minority report from that committee, and a wholesale campaign contra the Arts Council begins. Una's Cashel "Bru Boru" centre has been the major beneficiary of the IMRO deal.

21. Summer 2006; Melanie O'Reilly and Sean O Nuallain meet with Paul Appleby for two hours, handing him numerous documents that got mislaid on their passage from dete to him. Appleby promises High court action within two months.

22. November 2006; Mistletoe music llc receives documents showing that Hennessy's claim on Melanie's material antedated her legal claim. This is in contradiction to what both MCPS and IMRO are contending, and MCPS is reminded of this.

23Dec 2006; following a prolonged silence from Appleby, he confirms that there is unlikely to be any prosecution after all.

24. Accounts finally arrive from MCPS, showing that, nearly 7 years after the original complaint against them, both Dog and Excellent are still trading as limited companies. 11 years after being recorded, Melanie's compositions are still making 100 sterling or so a week.