Kane Brown Part II

Well, in case you are following the Kane Brown federal litigation saga and my analysis from 3/18/2019, mediation is now officially OUT as a remedy from the vantage point of this entertainment lawyer. At least for now.

It seemed that someone on Kane's legal team was reading my blog and rebutting it all in one fell swoop. Just as my spiel on the complaint filed by Zone 4, Inc. went live, the answer, affirmative defenses, and counterclaim of Kane Allen Brown went to the court clerk in Atlanta.

So read backward to March 18 of this year. But read forward, too. Because this litigation is not going to end soon.

The upshot is that Jamal Jones p/k/a Polow Da Don ("Polow") has some explaining to do regarding his prior relationship with Sony Music Nashville via Epic Records. The answer from Brown indicates a "Secret 2013 Epic/Sony Deal" by which Polow and his company Zone 4 were obligated to bring any identified artist talent to Epic/Sony. This secret deal prohibited distribution through any other label other than Epic/Sony and severely hampered the leverage of Kane Brown as he was pursued by UMG, Big Machine, and Republic Records.

Brown's answer also alleges that the July 2015 contract executed between him and Zone 4, Inc. was mutually terminated via email correspondence in January 2016, just before Brown executed his record deal with Sony. This termination apparently never was recorded in a written instrument. This termination should have been formalized in writing.

Due to the undisclosed prior relationship between Polow and Sony Music Nashville and also due to Kane Brown not retaining legal counsel prior to signing on with Zone 4 in July of 2015, Kane Brown lost leverage and revenue. And he now has a lawsuit on his hands to defend and respond to in the Northern District of Georgia.  

The so-called "joint venture" between Polow and Sony apparently stems from Polow's relationship with Epic Records (a label owned by Sony). Polow did little to create music and to advance the career of Kane Brown. But he allegedly still profits from Brown's career.

Brown's pleading alleges ten affirmative defenses, including accord and satisfaction, estoppel/waiver, prior breach of contract, and unclean hands.

Most prominent in the responsive pleading filed by Brown through counsel are counterclaims for fraudulent inducement and fraudulent concealment. In the everyday world of contracts, these two torts are difficult to prove. According to case law, fraud normally cannot be based on a promise to perform some act in the future. The big exception occurs when there is a present intent to not perform the promised acts in the future or where the promisor knows that a certain future event will not take place.

And this law regarding fraud could be very useful to the Brown legal team. If Polow is proven to have an intent to cut out all other labels besides Sony/Epic, this could result in a big award of damages for an artist whose career continues to be on the rise.

According to Brown's pleading, the "secret" 2013 agreement between Zone 4/Polow and Sony/Epic was discovered by Randy Goodman of Sony while performing diligence ahead of signing Kane Brown in early 2016. I did not see this actual paper agreement in the federal court filing. What it actually says will be crucial and perhaps highly determinative to the outcome of this litigation.

Brown should have retained an attorney prior to signing the contract with Zone 4 in July of 2015. He already had released an acclaimed EP just weeks earlier and was attracting attention from the "heavy hitters" of music. This error is now proving costly. 

Brown already was moving forward and now has a big thorny nuisance from a professional who did little to help him. 

One final point of interest is Polow's resume in pop music versus country. This high-profile incident could damage him permanently in Nashville.




Location: Nashville, TN, USA

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