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Labour laws historically out of tune with musicians
Western News, July 27, 2018
By Aniruddho Chokroborty-Hoque
In 2010, pop musician Kesha began an ultimately failed three-year legal fight with her two producers, Lukasz Gottwald and David Sonenberg, over exclusive rights to her singing services and song catalogue.
“The question that never comes up was, ‘What does she want?’ The court does not care. Her preferences, her desires had no role to play in this argument,” explained Matt Stahl, a Faculty of Information & Media Studies professor.
Norms of labour litigation suggest Kesha can be treated as a legal object, something – not someone – to be fought over like property.
These norms, also applicable in general cases of professional employment, can suppress wages, limit competition and prevent sellers of services from free access to other markets. They limit employee bargaining power by effectively giving employers property rights over their employees (continue reading).
