Sony Music has settled a lawsuit regarding the Whitney Houston biography

Sony Music has reached a settlement with the producers of the biopic.

The lawsuit, filed in February, alleged that 4 production firms – Anthem Films, NYBO Productions and Black Label Media – didn’t pay for licenses to 24 of Houston’s songs.

The request seen by Reuters shows that Sony Music has agreed to this to reject case last month. The parties informed the court that that they had agreed to the settlement but requested an extension to finalize the details.

The lawsuit claimed that the labels signed a sync licensing agreement that allowed them to make use of audio recordings of nearly 30 Houston classics, including “How Will I Know,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Will Always Love You” and her 1991 version “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Sony Music claims that under the agreement, royalties were to be paid in July 2023, but as of August 2023, it has still not received payment. Sony Music claims that Anthem was awaiting a tax break from the state of Massachusetts. According to the plaintiff, payment was never made.

“As a result of Anthem’s failure to pay fees to SME, it is clear that no license or authorization existed to use the SME recordings used in the film,” the lawsuit states.

Sony Music claimed that the film’s producers, Anthem Films, entered into a licensing agreement with the record label on December 5, 2022, two weeks before the film’s release.

“Unlike other types of films, musical biopics by their nature require the use of a musician’s music because it is almost impossible to explain the significance of a musician’s creative genius or his unique style and talent without using that musician’s music,” the record company’s lawyers wrote.

The original lawsuit sought damages of not less than $3.6 million. Details of the settlement aren’t yet known.