Update: Exclaim! Reader Sheds Light on Deep Purple “Illegally” Playing Their Own Songs
7/10/2009 By Keith Carman

Exclaim!, as well as several other publications, recently reported about how hard rock legends Deep Purple were targeted in a bizarre royalties issue. The article relayed via Russia Today expressed how the band performed a show in Russia and were then ordered to pay royalties for playing their own tunes.

Apparently, much of the story was misunderstood, as Exclaim! reader and Russian speaker Pirkko Vishnevskij relates in an email to our offices. According to this source, the band is not being forced to pay royalties to a third party for performing their own songs. It is actually the promoter of the concert on October 19, 2008, who defied the NGO — Russian Author's Society — when failing to cough up royalty coin.

“Really what happened is that the Russian authors' society went to court to try to collect performance royalties for the Deep Purple concert from the local promoter who apparently (judging by the court proceedings) went to great lengths not to pay them,” Vishnevskij tells Exclaim! in his email. He goes on to claim that the misinformation about who owes what is due to a confused blogger.

“The Russia Today piece of news seems to be based on a post of a highly popular and influential Russian blogger, because it just gives his view on the matter. Curiously enough, this blogger, Anton Nosik, included in his post a link to scanned court documents (court decision, in Russian), which no one, including him, seems to be bothered to read. No one is fining Deep Purple, quite to the contrary.”

Since we have failed to learn Russian and Deep Purple have still yet to comment, it’s a tough call on deciding who to believe in this strange royalties debacle.

More News: << Previous Story | Next Story >>
Do you have a news tip for us? Did anything crazy happen at a show? Got any inside info on a band? Click here to let us know!
• Arcade Fire Take Us Behind The Suburbs, Tegan and Sara Announce The Official Vinyl Collection, and Nardwuar Takes on Drake in This Week’s News Roundup
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Wavves, Seu Jorge, Chromeo and More Fill Exclaim!’s Hot-off-the-Presses August Issue
• Charles Manson Announces New Four-Album Series
• Holy Fuck Plot Cross-Canada Fall Tour
• Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino Talks Converse Collab with Kid Cudi and Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij
• Confirmed: Brian Eno Preparing Album for Warp Records
• Animal Collective's Avey Tare Announces Solo Full-length
• The Posies Team Up with Broken Social Scene’s Lisa Lobsinger for New Album
• New Michael Jackson Album Due This November
• Bad Religion Unveil The Dissent of Man Cover and Tracklist, Plot Massive Canada/U.S. Tour
Joe Danger [PS3]
Super Mario and Zelda may have gotten more attention, but for those who grew up on Nintendo's original NES console, ExciteBike was equally iconic. Racing a motocross over jumps was awesome — but the ability to create your own tracks, even without being saveable on such a p... Full Review
Frazey Ford - Obadiah
Frazey Ford's soulful voice has always been a highlight of the Be Good Tanyas. For her solo debut, she quiets the twang just enough to drench her vocal quaver in warm tones of soul, gospel and R&B. Twenty years in the making, Obadiah fulfils Ford's long-cherished vision of crafting songs that... Full Review
The Warm Spirit of the Mountains & the Trees
People say it's very earnest. I'm not quite sure what that means," laughs Jon Janes. Whatever it means, Janes certainly knows that it connects with people. As the force behind the morphing cast of musicians known as the Mountains & the Trees, Janes is winning hearts nationwide with his delicately upbeat indie folk.... Read More
Social Networking
• Be our friend on MySpace
• Be our fan on Facebook
• Tweet us on twitter
Viewing the July 2009 Issue: • Contents Page • News • Click Hear • Articles --> On the Cover  •  Front  •  Points  •  Questionnaire  •  Release Dates  •  Timeline  •  Videogames  •  Conversations • Music Reviews --> Recently Reviewed  •  Aggressive Tendencies  •  Beats & Rhymes  •  Destination Out  •  Frequencies  •  Groove  •  No Future  •  Pop Rocks  •  Wood, Wires & Whiskey  •  Concert Reviews  •  NXNE Reviews • Motion Reviews --> Recently Reviewed  •  Dvd Reviews  •  Film Reviews  •  Music DVD Reviews  •  Short Film Fest  •  Videogame Reviews • Music School --> Need to Know  •  Where I play • Contests • Contact --> About Us  • Advertising  • Distribution  • Getting Reviewed  • Getting Published  • Letters To The Editor  • Partnerships  • Subscriptions • Exclaim! Radio --> Aggressive Tendencies Radio  • Beats & Rhymes Radio  • Destination Out Radio  • Frequencies Radio  • Groove Radio  • No Future Radio  • Pop Rocks Radio  • Wood, Wires & Whiskey Radio • Exclaim! TV • Home & Latest Issue • Browse Issues • Privacy Policy