Roots Archives Forum

To Whom It May Concern,

I am a film student at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. I am interested in licensing one of Mr. Perry's songs for one of my short films. Does anyone have any idea who I should get in touch with?

I tried sending an email to whoever is in charge of his website, lee-perry.com, but for some reason it won't send the email if you hit send. At least I don't think it was sending....

Any thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

Which track is it? It would probably depend on who has the rights to the particular track in the US.

It's the song The Upsetter.

You could try contacting Universal Music Group, who bought Sanctuary Records, who themselves bought Trojan Records some time ago. I believe Trojan had the rights to 'The Upsetter'.

I searched Universal's database and it says they don't have Lee Perry

Try doing some research on the Harry Fox Agency website, www.harryfox.com.

his legacy is spreaded among many hundreds of companies and individuals. Good luck He gave away mastertapes to pay of debs, or simply gave them away in a state of madness, gave them to friends. Sold them to anyone around the world with enough money etc etc.

You've got your work cut out for you, Maxzilla! Trojan is a tiny brick in Universal Music's gigantic wall, so good luck trying to get anyone's attention there. And, despite what Ed says, it's not a matter of Scratch's music being given away "in a state of madness" - different companies have had the rights to the music at different times. You might try getting in touch with Rounder Records in the US, since years ago they released "I Am The Upsetter" on a Heartbeat collection (Explosive Rocksteady). However, I think the way it works is that companies only have the right to distribute certain songs for a certain time - Rounder may not be able to help you. Trojan greedily claims to own the rights to almost all of Scratch's music from that era, but that's just not true.

Stunt double, anyway ?! Could be another Ellis. I know the 12 tribes member who sings Africa awaits its creators also appears in the movie (he sings a tune for gibbs who leaves a studio in his car).

you can try with perry himself or his wife. they are living in zurich (switzerland) now. i tryed to find them on www.directories.ch but i dont know their exact name. but probably they arent on it (that's quite surprising, i ve just found michael schumacher on it ). but they are certainly a bit paranoid...
at least you can write a letter and put "Rainford Hugh Perry, 8090 Zurich" and it has 90% chance to come to him (i know what i m saying). but i think it s better if you find somebody else coz i m not sure that he and his wife will be very kind to you.