Contract in 2008 is bone of contention in Motherjane row between old and new members

Talking about the row, Thomas said, “A month ago, after Motherjane performed a series of concerts in all parts of India, Mani insisted that the band signed under Aum-I Artistes in 2008 reunite under the name Motherjane. When Rozario and I declined to join, we were harassed with insistent phone calls from not only them but also their acquaintances into accepting their terms. This came in the form of a letter from Aum-I saying we were under contract and if we didn’t disband and join them, letting go of our current lineup, we would be sued.”

 

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Thomas adds that the legal notice from Aum-i Artistes stated that if they wished to continue, they could do so as another band, not as Motherjane, thereby not being able to perform any of the band’s tracks. “We remained quiet and decided to take the legal route. But when we saw how Mani, Dharmajan and Sasidharan were playing games using social media, we decided to let the public know what was going on,” said Thomas.

Mani, on the other hand, cited the terms of the 2008 contract signed by the five members of Motherjane with Aum-i Artistes as the reason for taking the legal route. “The contract assigned copyright and trademark assets in perpetuity for monetary considerations received in full by them. The deal was for a five-album contract, which was not fulfilled or delivered by any of the band members. While unfortunate, Thomas and Rozario have now engaged law firms to send the record label pre-emptive legal notices that insist that they didn’t understand what they had signed and hence Aum-i should surrender the copyright and trademark assets that it legally and morally owns. This has been backed by a social media campaign that attempts to misinform everyone about cold hard facts,” said Mani, who then responded to the letter through a legal notice.

Mani added that he tried reaching Thomas and Rozario several times via phone calls and messages before sending out that letter. “But they were refusing to take calls and acknowledge messages and so Aum-i had to send them an email. And as an organisation, we clearly pointed out to them that their current bandmates were performing and covering copyrighted material which did not belong to them. We denied them permission to do so because we felt they were damaging the legacy of our brand and because we were within our legal rights to do that,” he said.

Motherjane recorded two albums titled Insane Biography (2001) and Maktub (2008). After the departure of Mani, Sasidharan and Dharmajan, the band recorded their 2022 EP 111 with a new lineup. On Spotify, however, there are two accounts of the band, one which has the older two albums, while the other account has the new EP. “In 2020, we learned that we could not get a Spotify account because there was already a Motherjane account and it was held by Mani. When I requested him for the Spotify account, he refused to give it to me and we had to start another Spotify account. That was when I started understanding that there was something afoot,” said Thomas.

 

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In 2013, Thomas recounts an interaction with Mani, where the former tried to clear the air about the ownership of the band’s material. “He assured me that there was no need for a written guarantee and that the contract was terminated. We were Motherjane and he was Suraj and the Tattva Trip (Mani’s solo outfit) and I believed him,” he said. Mani denied any such meeting.

According to Mani, the other members have accepted Aum-i’s offer to promote the old material and have been invited to create new material as well. “As the copyright owner, Aum-i is not even in a situation where it needs to seek legal recourse here. We would take the legal route if Thomas continues on his current path. For now, Aum-i is merely dealing with an irresponsible musician who sent a notice to the label and his ex-band members which specifically states that the songwriter/lyricist and vocal arranger of the songs and the musical arrangers, the very people who created the sonic identity of the band, should not be allowed to perform the songs or even hashtag the name of the band they created,” he added.