Johnny Gioeli, the musician and singer Crush 40 behind the iconic song Sonic Adventure 2 'Live and learn', SEGA of America is suing for breach of contract for repeated use of the song in the Sonic series (thanks, Polygon).
According to Gioeli lawsuit (via Polygon), filed in Southern California District Court earlier this month, the musician claims that SEGA has no rights to any part of the song other than the lyrics, and that he was unaware of any re-use of the song outside of its 2001 Dreamcast origins.
The lawsuit claims this means Gioeli was not properly compensated for 'Live and Learn' for the next 23 years — the musician's lawyer is citing damages for breach of contract and unpaid royalties of at least $500,000 each.
It all comes down to who owns the master copy of the song. Gioeli, of course, claims it's him, and the musician recalls that he worked exclusively with SEGA composer Juno Senoue on the development of the song called 'Crush 40' (formerly 'Sons of Angels'). According to the lawsuit, Gioeli “controlled and supervised the recording process, produced the recording, directed the arrangement and song, directed the progress of the recording for other musicians, and recorded and performed vocals.” Basically, the only other person involved was Senoue.
Gioeli's lawyers claim that the musician has “maintained and registered” the song since the release of the game through the licensing agency BMI, where he is a co-author with Senoue.
While the Crush 40 singer was reportedly unaware of the song's reappearance in Smash Bros. Brawl, Sonic X Shadow Generations, and Sonic Frontiers (he needed a fan to tell him, obviously), Gioeli confirmed Consequences back in February that he gave Paramount Pictures permission to use the song in an upcoming film, Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
The musician released the following statement to Polygon, where he emphasized the importance of maintaining a “long-term, beautiful relationship with Sega”:
I have no comment other than my desire to maintain a long-lasting, beautiful relationship with Sega. I don't want fans to jump to conclusions or get distracted by the fond memories we've made together with this music. I believe and hope that we will reach a peaceful solution that will be fair and just.
We will monitor this to see how “peaceful” the settlement turns out to be.
In related news, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hits theaters worldwide starting tomorrow (December 20). Several outlets have already been lucky enough to see what happens in this third installment of the series, and you can find our review below.
