The arranger José Torregrosa registered as co-author with rights over 50 percent of each composition in the General Society of Authors and Publishers.
A court in Madrid determined that the late guitarist paco de lucia he was the only author of 37 of his works that were co-authored with Jose Torregrosa.
The maneuver had been carried out by Torregrosa himself, an arranger and composer who was a music producer for the Philips record company, who used to transcribe the notable guitarist’s creations into scores for their corresponding record, because he did not know how to write music.
Without paco de lucia knew, the arranger was registered as a co-author with rights to 50 percent of each composition every time he submitted a score to the General Society of Authors and Publishers (SGAE).
In 2012, Lucia Sanchezdaughter of the guitarist and lawyer, noticed the maneuver and alerted her father, with whom they unsuccessfully tried to reach an agreement with the Torregrosa family, who had already died.
According to the Spanish newspaper ABC, the sentence handed down by a judge in Madrid determines that the widow and the two daughters of the fixer must reimburse the family of Paco de Lucía for the amounts received for copyright on those 37 works, although the exact figure was not disclosed, in addition to compensation of 10,000 euros for non-material damage.
“It has not been proven nor are there any indications, beyond the records in the SGAE repertoire, that Mr. Torregrosa participated in the creative process of the works that are the subject of the lawsuit, at least as co-author, that is, having regard to the same the condition referred to in article 5 of the Reformed Text of the Intellectual Property Law (TRLPI), even jointly with Paco de Lucía”, expresses the sentence.
Among the revelations left by the investigation, the signature of Paco de Lucía in many of the SGAE records had been falsified, according to the work carried out by calligraphic experts.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
