Thaindian News

By Madhuri Dey
Nashville, Mar 23, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Mary Miller, the widow of Roger Miller, the country music legend, has finally won the rights to the songs that her late husband had published back in 1964. Mary Miller had been fighting the case from 2004, when she had sued Sony Music Entertainment, claiming that she and Roger Miller Music Incorporated owned the rights to the songs that were published in and after 1964, citing the reason that Roger Miller had succumbed to lung cancer before the contract with the marketing label could be renewed. The songs included such massive hits as “You Can’t Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd,” “Dang Me,” and also the iconic “Chug-A-Lug.”

The ruling for the court battle was passed last week by Judge William J. Haynes of the United States District Court, who ruled that the copyright to the songs actually belonged to Mary Miller and Roger Miller Music Incorporated. Moreover, he also passed the verdict that the widow of the late singer, whose songs topped the charts not only of the country genre but also the pop charts, would be receiving an approximate $900,000 as royalties. The company owned by Roger Miller would also be receiving part of this amount.

Mary Miller had originally sued Sony claiming that the songs that had been published from 1958-1963 belonged to her, but the appellate court had ruled against her. However, the lower court was asked to decide whether she would be given the copyright to the songs written in 1964, since the contract had not been renewed. Mary Miller’s attorney, John Griffin, commented that he was ‘thrilled’ at the win of the widow, something, he felt, had been long pending.