Deadmau5 took over Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway with a 90-minute set on Aug. 31.
Deadmau5 — aka EDM star Joel Zimmerman — has reached an agreement with his former Canadian label over remixes and mashups of early recordings that he claimed violated his moral rights.
The settlement of a lawsuit brought by Zimmerman in October 2015 in an Ontario, Canada, court calls for Play Records and company principal Melleny Melody, aka Melleefresh, to no longer create new remixes or mashups of master recordings. The agreement also allows Play Records to retain the rights to more than 100 original tracks, collaborations and remixes created by Deadmau5 (pronounced Deadmouse) between 2006 and 2008.
Melody told The Hollywood Reporter that Play Records will continue to license and exploit that catalog after both parties amicably resolved their legal wrangle. “We are pleased to reach a mutually beneficial resolution, given our long-standing business history,” Melody said.
Dina LaPolt, Zimmerman’s lawyer, also confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that both parties had amicably resolved their dispute.
Deadmau5 earlier settled a separate legal wrangle with Disney over his registration of a caricature of a mouse head with black ears, white eyes and white mouth. The EDM star also retracted a cease-and-desist order against the producer of Deadmouse: the Musical, a production that was part of a Toronto live theater festival.
Melody, a Toronto-based musician and voice actress, launched Play Records in 1996. Ten years later, Melody and Deadmau5 collaborated on remixes when the EDM artist’s career was getting off the ground.
Deadmau5 in the original 2008 settlement agreement assigned Melody ownership of the early recordings and compositions, including his first hit, Faxing Berlin. The EDM artist in 2008 also signed personal management agreements with Play Records.
That followed Deadmau5 relocating to London in 2007, linking up with another management firm and wanting to sever ties with Play Records. “As a label, we launched his career. We’re really proud of that,” Melody said.
Play Records, which also has a U.K. recording facility, Play Deep Studios, represents more than 1,000 licensed and exclusive dance tracks across a network of online digital and streaming channels.
