Who Owns Britney’s Music?

[mocha latto]

1 minute ago, kino said:

Music - SONY

Merch? - Michael Kane?

I wonder though what the details are of the music ownership, like within sony, who owns which assets (Albums, songs, masters, lyrics, licenses for the songs etc.) but its kind of a rabbit hole trying to find out.

[mocha latto]

1 minute ago, very_urban said:

Ok? Swift's label was bought. Did someone buy Britney's label?

Yes. By Jive, and then Jive was purchased by RCA.

But again, not that simple. Different people can own different songs & albums and that info isn't necessarily just out there to find.

But artists can acquire the rights to their masters and it isn't completely impossible for that to have happened while she was under c-ship. But there's not a way to figure this out for certain at this time. (from what it seems so far)

[mocha latto]

Just now, mocha latto said:

Yes. By Jive, and then Jive was purchased by RCA.

But again, not that simple. Different people can own different songs & albums and that info isn't necessarily just out there to find.

But artists can acquire the rights to their masters and it isn't completely impossible for that to have happened while she was under c-ship. But there's not a way to figure this out for certain at this time. (from what it seems so far)

Correction, RCA didnt buy out Jive. They're just a divison of RCA. (source)

But Zomba records was in fact dissolved in 2009. The actual companies Britney was CEO of for her own assets were also dissolved around this time. (OR moved to Lou Taylor) (source)

[Ghoulia]

1 hour ago, mocha latto said:

 

TL;DR AT THE BOTTOM! 

A really big debate i’ve been seeing on twitter lately has been over the ownership of Britney Spears music. Some people have vowed to never stream her music again until it’s made clear.

I couldn’t get a SOLID idea of who runs her music based off of research (but i did uncover a huge rabbit hole of information that i’ll keep to myself for right now) but I did get an idea.

Firstly, Britney Spears herself is technically trademarked. Lots of celebrities do this but under their own name. Britney Spears may be trademarked by someone else.

Baby One More Mark, LLC has trademarked the name Britney Spears for use on Beauty Products, Musical Works, Music Videos, Blogs, and a multitude of other things. (source)

This would give whoever owns said company exclusive rights to use her name for all the categories it’s been registered to. This (essentially, in a simple explanation) means whoever has a hold of that company has exclusive rights to anything tied to her brand. 

That being said- It’s likely Britney has NO control over her merch, and money made off her products goes to either her father or Micheal Kane (The most recent director at Britney Brands).

(Remember that random perfume that was released that Britney didn’t EVER promote?)

Moving back to the topic of music ownership, usually the label has complete control over who owns the music if they don’t own it exclusively.

James Spears has a company actually titled Sweet Jamie Music that apparently owns all of Jenny Limbs music (who even streams her music?) So presumably there must be something similar for her recordings? 

I looked at the companies James has been an officer of (there’s so many, it’s giving money laundering *SPECULATION/JOKE*)  and found a company called Miss Britney Recording. (source)

Most recently, Lou Taylor, Jamie Spears & Micheal Kane do not work for this company anymore, and the only listed officer shows an agent called “E RESIDENT AGENT” which is basically just a website that seems like an “easy business agent online” type of thing. Most of the companies used to control Britney’s career now have this company listed as an agent, it’s not abruptly clear who actually initiated that. 

BUT— the business has an address publicly listed, so I checked it to see if it would get me anywhere. It took me to a Public Accounting Firm called Miller Kaplan. 

Generally it seemed like her music is owned by these companies that Lou and Jamie created. It appears she doesn’t actually own her music (as she almost certainly doesn’t own her brand) but there’s not much info on who actually DOES own her music. The company listed as the agent also opens a whole other rabbit hole of questions too. 

But for now- I’m not streaming her music. I have CDs/Digital download so i’ll just do that cause none of this makes any sense. 

 

TL;DR: Music ownership information is not 100% public but based on public records it appears Britney does not own her own work at all. It LOOKS that her music was collectively owned by Jamie Spears & Lou Taylor at some point through companies that were established post c-ship.

If anyone else finds any juicy info that i didn’t include PLS add to this thread! 

 

TLDR - I don't know who owns Britney's catalogue of music.  I would assume Sony?  Her trademarks are still under Jamie's company Baby One More Mark LLC, but Rosengart is working on it.

More detail:

I've seen this issue bounced around on Twitter. I think you're right about the company Miss Britney Recording - that one is definitely still under Lou & Jamie's control 😭

In 2018, Wallet & Jamie transferred Britney's trademarks to Jamie's control (better explained here). 

Then they sold the trademarks to a newly formed company, Baby One More Mark LLC.

 

The company Baby One More Mark, LLC was registered in Delaware so we can't see all of the officers but we can see the business/mailing address, which is Dina LaPolt's office. 

 

MeanerThree's sleuthing revealed that Baby One More Mark LLC, under Jamie and Andrew Wallet's control, tried to trademark Britney Spears Domination and Britney Domination in October of 2018. Irene Y. Lee with Russ, August & Kabat is the attorney listed on the applications. So that's three separate attorneys (LaPolt, Wallet, Lee) involved in the process.

These applications were denied because Britney, a living person, did not sign the application.  

 

You can see the application denials here: 

Britney Spears Domination Trademark Application Offc Action Outgoing

USPTO.REPORT

---

Trademark registration supporting document for Offc Action Outgoing regarding BRITNEY SPEARS DOMINATION registered by Baby One More Mark, LLC

The application denial includes this little nugget of information:

If the name in the mark does identify a particular living individual, applicant must submit both of the following: 

(1)  The following statement:  “The name(s) shown in the mark identifies a living individual(s) whose consent(s) to register is made of record.”  If the name is a pseudonym, stage name, or nickname, applicant must provide the following statement:  “<specify assumed name> identifies <specify actual name>, a living individual whose consent is of record.”

(2) A written consent, personally signed by the named individual(s), as follows:  “I, BRITNEY SPEARS, consent to the use and registration of my name, BRITNEY SPEARS, as a trademark and/or service mark with the USPTO.”

Did this have something to do with Britney's work strike, leading to a forced stay in a mental health facility, in 2019??

 

All hope is not lost, though. 

On the USPTO.report page, we can see a new application was filed in 2022 on her trademark mark for: BRITNEY SPEARS® entertainment services.

 

This is still pending.  But it seems like Rosengart is fighting to regain control of Britney's trademarks. Since she is indeed still alive and well, I think the law is on her side.

The same change of attorney application was also filed on the marks for: BRITNEY® music recordings and BRITNEY SPEARS® cosmetics.

  

 

[mocha latto]

11 minutes ago, Ghoulia said:

TLDR - I don't know who owns Britney's catalogue of music.  I would assume Sony?  Her trademarks are still under Jamie's company Baby One More Mark LLC, but Rosengart is working on it.

More detail:

I've seen this issue bounced around on Twitter. I think you're right about the company Miss Britney Recording - that one is definitely still under Lou & Jamie's control 😭

In 2018, Wallet & Jamie transferred Britney's trademarks to Jamie's control (better explained here). 

Then they sold the trademarks to a newly formed company, Baby One More Mark LLC.

 

The company Baby One More Mark, LLC was registered in Delaware so we can't see all of the officers but we can see the business/mailing address, which is Dina LaPolt's office. 

 

MeanerThree's sleuthing revealed that Baby One More Mark LLC, under Jamie and Andrew Wallet's control, tried to trademark Britney Spears Domination and Britney Domination in October of 2018. Irene Y. Lee with Russ, August & Kabat is the attorney listed on the applications. So that's three separate attorneys (LaPolt, Wallet, Lee) involved in the process.

These applications were denied because Britney, a living person, did not sign the application.  

 

You can see the application denials here: 

Britney Spears Domination Trademark Application Offc Action Outgoing

USPTO.REPORT

---

Trademark registration supporting document for Offc Action Outgoing regarding BRITNEY SPEARS DOMINATION registered by Baby One More Mark, LLC

The application denial includes this little nugget of information:

If the name in the mark does identify a particular living individual, applicant must submit both of the following: 

(1)  The following statement:  “The name(s) shown in the mark identifies a living individual(s) whose consent(s) to register is made of record.”  If the name is a pseudonym, stage name, or nickname, applicant must provide the following statement:  “<specify assumed name> identifies <specify actual name>, a living individual whose consent is of record.”

(2) A written consent, personally signed by the named individual(s), as follows:  “I, BRITNEY SPEARS, consent to the use and registration of my name, BRITNEY SPEARS, as a trademark and/or service mark with the USPTO.”

Did this have something to do with Britney's work strike, leading to a forced stay in a mental health facility, in 2019??

 

All hope is not lost, though. 

On the USPTO.report page, we can see a new application was filed in 2022 on her trademark mark for: BRITNEY SPEARS® entertainment services.

 

This is still pending.  But it seems like Rosengart is fighting to regain control of Britney's trademarks. Since she is indeed still alive and well, I think the law is on her side.

The same change of attorney application was also filed on the marks for: BRITNEY® music recordings and BRITNEY SPEARS® cosmetics.

  

 

I greatly appreciate this!!

[mocha latto]

15 minutes ago, Ghoulia said:

TLDR - I don't know who owns Britney's catalogue of music.  I would assume Sony?  Her trademarks are still under Jamie's company Baby One More Mark LLC, but Rosengart is working on it.

More detail:

I've seen this issue bounced around on Twitter. I think you're right about the company Miss Britney Recording - that one is definitely still under Lou & Jamie's control 😭

In 2018, Wallet & Jamie transferred Britney's trademarks to Jamie's control (better explained here). 

Then they sold the trademarks to a newly formed company, Baby One More Mark LLC.

 

The company Baby One More Mark, LLC was registered in Delaware so we can't see all of the officers but we can see the business/mailing address, which is Dina LaPolt's office. 

 

MeanerThree's sleuthing revealed that Baby One More Mark LLC, under Jamie and Andrew Wallet's control, tried to trademark Britney Spears Domination and Britney Domination in October of 2018. Irene Y. Lee with Russ, August & Kabat is the attorney listed on the applications. So that's three separate attorneys (LaPolt, Wallet, Lee) involved in the process.

These applications were denied because Britney, a living person, did not sign the application.  

 

You can see the application denials here: 

Britney Spears Domination Trademark Application Offc Action Outgoing

USPTO.REPORT

---

Trademark registration supporting document for Offc Action Outgoing regarding BRITNEY SPEARS DOMINATION registered by Baby One More Mark, LLC

The application denial includes this little nugget of information:

If the name in the mark does identify a particular living individual, applicant must submit both of the following: 

(1)  The following statement:  “The name(s) shown in the mark identifies a living individual(s) whose consent(s) to register is made of record.”  If the name is a pseudonym, stage name, or nickname, applicant must provide the following statement:  “<specify assumed name> identifies <specify actual name>, a living individual whose consent is of record.”

(2) A written consent, personally signed by the named individual(s), as follows:  “I, BRITNEY SPEARS, consent to the use and registration of my name, BRITNEY SPEARS, as a trademark and/or service mark with the USPTO.”

Did this have something to do with Britney's work strike, leading to a forced stay in a mental health facility, in 2019??

 

All hope is not lost, though. 

On the USPTO.report page, we can see a new application was filed in 2022 on her trademark mark for: BRITNEY SPEARS® entertainment services.

 

This is still pending.  But it seems like Rosengart is fighting to regain control of Britney's trademarks. Since she is indeed still alive and well, I think the law is on her side.

The same change of attorney application was also filed on the marks for: BRITNEY® music recordings and BRITNEY SPEARS® cosmetics.

  

 

Ah yes, when Domination was cancelled. 

I also wonder if the eresidentagent has something to do with them working to get control back? I looked at Baby One More Mark here and it had the same thing as the agent.

[BlackoutITZ]

I think people are confusing her brand and business entities with her music.

Her music is owned by Sony.

[GirlOnTheMoon]

2 hours ago, very_urban said:

Ok? Swift's label was bought. Did someone buy Britney's label?

Taylor’s MASTERS were bought by Scooter Braun.

[mocha latto]

1 minute ago, GirlOnTheMoon said:

Taylor’s MASTERS were bought by Scooter Braun.

Scooter gained ownership over Big Machine and because they owned the masters he became the owner. But thats not the only way to get masters.

 

Quote

Swift stated she had been trying to buy the masters for years but Big Machine offered unfavorable conditions, and that she knew the label would sell them to someone else but did not expect Braun as the buyer, recalling him being an "incessant, manipulative bully"

(Wikipedia) (Source) 

[mocha latto]

Just now, mocha latto said:

Scooter gained ownership over Big Machine and because they owned the masters he became the owner. But thats not the only way to get masters.

 

(Wikipedia) (Source) 

My suggestion is that theres a possibility someone from her team could've gained control of any of the original masters. They could have bought them out while she was under a c-ship.  

Theres strong indicators of that possibly being the case, but I haven't found anything that says what she/her team do and do not own. 

But it is a possibility.

[Ghoulia]

23 minutes ago, mocha latto said:

Ah yes, when Domination was cancelled. 

I also wonder if the eresidentagent has something to do with them working to get control back? I looked at Baby One More Mark here and it had the same thing as the agent.

EResident agent is Lou Taylor.  She started changing over the mailing addresses/registered agents on a lot of the Britney connected businesses a few years ago. 

[RebellionSparkles]

45 minutes ago, Ghoulia said:

TLDR - I don't know who owns Britney's catalogue of music.  I would assume Sony?  Her trademarks are still under Jamie's company Baby One More Mark LLC, but Rosengart is working on it.

More detail:

I've seen this issue bounced around on Twitter. I think you're right about the company Miss Britney Recording - that one is definitely still under Lou & Jamie's control 😭

In 2018, Wallet & Jamie transferred Britney's trademarks to Jamie's control (better explained here). 

Then they sold the trademarks to a newly formed company, Baby One More Mark LLC.

 

The company Baby One More Mark, LLC was registered in Delaware so we can't see all of the officers but we can see the business/mailing address, which is Dina LaPolt's office. 

 

MeanerThree's sleuthing revealed that Baby One More Mark LLC, under Jamie and Andrew Wallet's control, tried to trademark Britney Spears Domination and Britney Domination in October of 2018. Irene Y. Lee with Russ, August & Kabat is the attorney listed on the applications. So that's three separate attorneys (LaPolt, Wallet, Lee) involved in the process.

These applications were denied because Britney, a living person, did not sign the application.  

 

You can see the application denials here: 

Britney Spears Domination Trademark Application Offc Action Outgoing

USPTO.REPORT

---

Trademark registration supporting document for Offc Action Outgoing regarding BRITNEY SPEARS DOMINATION registered by Baby One More Mark, LLC

The application denial includes this little nugget of information:

If the name in the mark does identify a particular living individual, applicant must submit both of the following: 

(1)  The following statement:  “The name(s) shown in the mark identifies a living individual(s) whose consent(s) to register is made of record.”  If the name is a pseudonym, stage name, or nickname, applicant must provide the following statement:  “<specify assumed name> identifies <specify actual name>, a living individual whose consent is of record.”

(2) A written consent, personally signed by the named individual(s), as follows:  “I, BRITNEY SPEARS, consent to the use and registration of my name, BRITNEY SPEARS, as a trademark and/or service mark with the USPTO.”

Did this have something to do with Britney's work strike, leading to a forced stay in a mental health facility, in 2019??

 

All hope is not lost, though. 

On the USPTO.report page, we can see a new application was filed in 2022 on her trademark mark for: BRITNEY SPEARS® entertainment services.

 

This is still pending.  But it seems like Rosengart is fighting to regain control of Britney's trademarks. Since she is indeed still alive and well, I think the law is on her side.

The same change of attorney application was also filed on the marks for: BRITNEY® music recordings and BRITNEY SPEARS® cosmetics.

  

 

This is a great question.

another great question is who owns Britney’s name? The secret lies in the ownership structure of Britney Brands and Shiloh Standing.

[mocha latto]

3 minutes ago, Ghoulia said:

EResident agent is Lou Taylor.  She started changing over the mailing addresses/registered agents on a lot of the Britney connected businesses a few years ago. 

Holy crap?? Thats like MAJOR! That agent is tied to several things as of most recently. 

It seems like she resigned just to get them back in a way she couldnt be seen? is that too far fetched? 

[RebellionSparkles]

2 hours ago, mocha latto said:

Correction, RCA didnt buy out Jive. They're just a divison of RCA. (source)

But Zomba records was in fact dissolved in 2009. The actual companies Britney was CEO of for her own assets were also dissolved around this time. (OR moved to Lou Taylor) (source)

Zomba, Jive, RCA eventually all merge into Sony but I forget the acquisition order.

[mocha latto]

1 minute ago, RebellionSparkles said:

This is a great question.

another great question is who owns Britney’s name? The secret lies in the ownership structure of Britney Brands and Shiloh Standing.

If you check a few replies ago, Ghoulia explains that part a little more in depth then from what I could find 

[Isla]

2 hours ago, mocha latto said:

Yes. By Jive, and then Jive was purchased by RCA.

Okay but that's not what happened. Jive was originally apart of Zomba Music Group, which was acquired by BMG in 2002, which then merged with Sony in 2004 to become Sony BMG, with Sony then rebranding from 'Sony BMG' to 'Sony Music Entertainment' in 2008. Around this time Jive was restructured into the 'RCA Music Group' with RCA, J and Arista Records. In 2011, Jive, J and Arista shut down and the artists on those three labels moved over to RCA. Arista was later reluanched in 2018.

[RebellionSparkles]

1 minute ago, mocha latto said:

Holy crap?? Thats like MAJOR! That agent is tied to several things as of most recently. 

It seems like she resigned just to get them back in a way she couldnt be seen? is that too far fetched? 

NO not far fetched. I’m OBSESSED with the timeline when Lou left B Team CON. There are so many sus things happening around that time…including Kylie Jenner’s big payday from the COTY acquisition 

[Isla]

27 minutes ago, BlackoutITZ said:

I think people are confusing her brand and business entities with her music.

Her music is owned by Sony.

This. 

[mocha latto]

3 minutes ago, Isla said:

This. 

See my response to this comment. If Sony sold her masters to anyone, it would not necessarily have been publicized or disclosed. Hence why we cannot say with certainty who owns the masters to this day.

[Isla]

5 minutes ago, mocha latto said:

See my response to this comment. If Sony sold her masters to anyone, it would not necessarily have been publicized or disclosed. Hence why we cannot say with certainty who owns the masters to this day.

Yeah that's fair enough. Taylor's situation was made public because she spoke about it and revealed her intention to rerecord her Big Machine albums.