Man behind the Stones loses copyright battle

Plans by the legendary music producer and manager Andrew Loog Oldham to release new albums from master tapes of recordings from the Sixties were halted yesterday when he lost a High Court copyright battle.

Mr Oldham, who discovered and managed the Rolling Stones until 1967, wanted to raid his back catalogue of early recordings by stars including Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, the Small Faces and Peter Frampton. There were also records produced by Mick Jagger.

But instead he faces a legal bill of nearly £500,000 after the High Court ruled that he lost control of the copyright after his label, the Immediate Record Company, went into liquidation in 1970. Mr Oldham had, by his own admission, been "out to lunch" on drinks and drugs from the Sixties to 1995, during which time several businesses had held the title to the catalogue.

The court was told that the rights were assigned to Nems Records in 1976 and another label, Charly and Castle, acquired them in 1996. But Mr Oldham, 57, claimed he had commissioned and paid for the recordings himself and had never given up copyright.

Charly took action against Mr Oldham when he claimed on his website to be the true owner and promised to release new records taken from the master tapes. They would have been released everywhere except in Britain. Mr Justice Pumfrey, in the High Court, ruled that the copyright of the catalogue was vested in Immediate Records and this came to an end under the 1976 agreement. He said there was "undisputable record", despite Mr Oldham's recollection of events. He said: "Mr Oldham appears to have been a remarkably effective record producer but it seems that his business skills were not of the same order."

Mr Oldham, who lives in Colombia with his wife, a Latin American actress, became a teenage millionaire after discovering the Rolling Stones playing in an athletics club. But he represented himself in the action after telling the judge he was short of funds.

He looked stunned at the ruling and by the judge's decision to freeze his assets pending an agreement on payment of legal fees, estimated in court at more than £470,000. He was told to hand over any masters or copies. A hearing on Monday will discuss costs.