‘It was never ever about the money’
nel with low ratings.
This had damaged his ability to be featured on major broadcasters.
While Mr Fleming accepted that he his wife and their company may not get much out of any damages award against a firm in liquidation he said he had to proceed with his action because the case centered around what was their work.
In his judgment on Wednesday Mr Justice Gilligan said Mr Fleming is “a talented artist who has been well received publicly” and “has had a successful career in the entertainment industry both in Ireland and abroad.”
The Judge said he was mindful of the loss suffered by Mr Fleming, both within the state and on the singer’s global platform due to the illegal broadcasts.
The Judge also noted that the plaintiffs had expended money on hiring extra staff, marketing and advertising to redress the drop in ticket sales caused by the defendant’s breach. “AT the end of the day it was a point of principal. You can not take someone else’s intellectual property and do what you like with it. There has to be consequences. If I did not stand up and do something about this, nobody would.”
The words of singer Tommy Fleming who spoke to The Sligo Champion following a High Court ruling in which he was awarded €150,000 for breach of copyright.
The court found the Enniscrone entertainer had suffered a serious setback following illegal broadcasts of his work by broadcaster Irish TV. That company is now in liquidation and Tommy says “We are never likely to get that money.”
But the 46-year-old star insists ‘it was never ever about the money.’
“It was my concert and it broadcast without a licence. In my opinion they cheapened the product by putting it out on a lesser station at the wrong time and changing the name. I felt the likes of Sky Arts would not pick it up after that. Voice of Hope is still broadcast legally by TV3 and PBS in America,” explains Tommy.
“When somebody blatantly takes your product, changes the name, takes the credits out of the title it is like a big TV station taking Star Wars, changing the name of it and broadcasting it. Voice of Hope was marketed in a certain way and that is why it has sold 3.5 million units since 2005,” he adds.
Speaking from his holiday in Albufiera, Portugal with his wife Tina, Tommy says: “Money has never driven me. This was about creative writes. I spent years working on a product, putting it together as a singer, producer and co-director and then for that product to be taken and in my opinion belittled and cheapened is not right. I have strived for more than 25 years to be at the top of my game. I had to take this case.”
The singer admits that he did not ‘gain anything from the ruling’ and says financially he could in fact be ‘out of pocket.’
His advice to other artists: “To all artist of any description, keep your intellectual property rights. Find a good lawyer. It costs money to mount a legal case, but the law was on my side and that has made it all worthwhile.”
Tommy says he was most shocked to discover the re-naming of his concert as the ‘ Tommy Fleming Musical Extravaganza.’
“I was expecting men in top hats to come out with whips and shouting roll up, roll up. To me it conjured up images of a circus,” he explains.
The singer, his wife Tina Mitchell Fleming and their company TF Productions took the case in 2015. The news of the ruling came through as the couple were on holiday. Tommy says: “It was good news to know that what I did was the right thing. The law came down on our side.
“We were awarded €150,000 but I do not think we will get even a fraction of that.”
Being out of the country as the news broke, Tommy was unaware of the national publicity. “Apparently the case has garnered a lot of publicity but I did not expect it to, it was never the intention either,” he says.
Tommy will be on tour again this Winter with a number of Cathedral concerts in December. “We will be in Kilronan Castle on December 2nd and we are also doing a big charity event in Ballina on December 20 th,” he says.
Prior to this Tommy had been touring with the musical he co wrote, ‘Paddy’ which ran in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre and in venues across Ireland and the UK.
“We ran with Paddy for two years and it was a wonderful success but we are taking a sabbatical at the moment,” he says.