Black Sues Ark

BLACK, WHITE AND GREEN: Now comes the fun part. Viral sensation Rebecca Black of “Friday” fame, and her mother, Georgina Marquez Kelly, are accusing Orange County-based Ark Music Factory of copyright infringement and unlawful exploitation of publicity rights. The lawyer for the two alleges that Ark has “failed to provide Black with master recordings of her song and video, and has been exploiting her likeness and song on YouTube, iTunes, Amazon and Ark's own website, created an unauthorized ringtone and has been advertising the 13-year-old as an exclusive Ark recording artist on its website.” Founder Patrice Wilson told Rolling Stone: "Once an artist meets with us and once they blow up, they have a choice to retain us or move on if they can. Rebecca is now signed with someone else." Ark lawyer Barry Rothman added: "The agreement was not court-approved. They say they own the composition. Nothing could be further from the truth. If they go forward and license it or attempt to copyright it in their name, that would be copyright infringement and we'd act accordingly under the circumstances." (4/4a)