McLachlan Songwriting Suit Enters Final Phase

By IAN BAILEY -- Canadian Press

VANCOUVER -- Sarah McLachlan has been too busy to worry about a pivotal court date today in the civil case of a producer who is claiming cash and credit for songwriting on her first album.

"Sarah's never one to sit around," said her manager Terry McBride. "She's kept herself really, really busy."

McBride suggested fans of the 30-year-old singer might be wasting their time if they haunt a downtown court complex today expecting to see her.

"She's got a lot of work to do," said McBride, who is also named in Darryl Neudorf's lawsuit.

That work includes promotion of a new album, Mirrorball, due for release next week.

The Grammy- and Juno-winning performer kicks off the third edition of Lilith Fair on July 8 -- an all-female tour with 35 shows across North America.

"We're glad (the case) is coming to an end," said McBride, the CEO of Nettwerk Productions, McLachlan's label.

"We'd like to see this thing get wrapped up so we can all move on even more in our regular lives."

Arguments for both sides are expected to last five days. Justice Bruce Cohen, who has heard the case without a jury, will hand down a written ruling some time in the next few months.

"We're talking about a lot of evidence to summarize and a lot of law to summarize," Neudorf's lawyer Jonathan Simkin said Tuesday.

"It's essentially just me saying, 'Here's what we set out to prove. Here's what we say we proved. Here's what the law says. And here's the result when you apply the law to what we proved.' "

Neudorf is suing for songwriting credit, copyright infringement and a share of royalties and co-production credit on McLachlan's 1988 debut album Touch.

The former drummer with the band 54-40 was recruited to help on Touch, which launched the career of the singer -- then a promising 19-year-old who had moved here from Halifax.

Neudorf claims that his work on four songs -- Steaming, Vox, Sad Clown and Strange World -- was overlooked. Neudorf is credited on Touch for "pre-production co-ordination and production assistance."

Neudorf has been paid about $3,000 for his efforts. If he wins this case, a second trial would be held to calculate specific damages.

The case went to trial last November. It was supposed to last three weeks but dragged on into eight weeks of hearings when the last of 18 witnesses took the stand in mid-February.

McLachlan attended the trial with a pair of dapper bodyguards, sitting quietly through testimony on such points as her alleged failings as a songwriter. She drew scores of teenaged fans, who packed the spectators' gallery hoping for a peek at the
composed singer or an autograph.

McLachlan performed bits of the disputed songs to explain how they were assembled.

McLachlan's lawyer Jennifer Conkie said Neudorf has been more than adequately paid for the work he did.

"In a nutshell, our argument is that on the evidence we heard, the plaintiff didn't perform services that attracted copyright," she said.

Both sides said there had been talks on an out-of-court settlement.

"Our math and their math didn't add up," McBride said.

"They were after a lot more money than the sales of Touch justified. They were very simply trying to cash in on the success this girl has had."

Simkin noted that Neudorf was always willing to resolve the matter on reasonable terms.

"There were never any reasonable terms provided," he said.