Written By: Ananya Nigam.
Edited By: Naimisa Madduri.
INTRODUCTION
In 2006, the musical artist, Prince Rogers Nelson released his new album named 3121 along with which, he designed ‘3121 Eau De Parfum’, which was to be launched by the Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics company. An agreement was signed between Prince and the cosmetics company, in which, Prince agreed to promote the perfumes in his name, backing it with his fame and likeness. Later, in November 2008, the Revelations company filed a suit against the prince in the New York Supreme Court, Manhattan, alleging the breach of contract. Revelations specifically claimed that the agreement to promote the perfume was fraudulent as Prince did not promote the perfume. He skipped the interviews and canceled the shows which promoted the perfumes. Revelations also claimed that Prince fraudulently induced the company into the contract and that they had incurred losses because of Prince.
FACTS
The appeal was filed in the Supreme Court of Manhattan. In 2006, the musical artist, Prince Rogers Nelson released his new album named 3121 along with which, he designed ‘3121 Eau De Parfum’, to be launched by the Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics company. An agreement was signed between Prince and the cosmetics company in which, Prince agreed to promote the perfumes by using his name, fame, and likeness. However, when it came to actually do his part, Prince skipped the interviews. He kept on showing his willingness to promote the perfume in the later stages, but, never did that. He promised to do the marketing on the Oprah Winfrey Show but, he canceled the show and his upcoming music tour. Revelations still hoped that Prince would co-operate as he kept on sending mixed messages showing his willingness and so, the company kept on developing the perfumes and tried hard to bring Prince back for the promotion, but, he continued to skip the interviews and canceled the shows which promoted the perfumes. Finally, in November 2008, the Revelations company filed a suit against Prince in the New York Supreme Court, Manhattan, alleging the breach of contract. Revelations specifically claimed that the agreement to promote the perfume was fraudulent as Prince did not promote the perfume. Revelations sought out-of-the-pocket damages, lost profit damages, and punitive damages.
ISSUES
The issues raised as a result of the suit were as follows-
1) Prince’s breach of contract and his non-compliance to fulfill his duty as agreed to according to the contract.
2) Was Prince liable to pay the punitive damages, out-of-the-box damages along with the lost profit damages?
RULES
Revelations sought out-of-the-pocket damages, punitive damages, and the lost profit damages and so, on the 18th of January, 2011, The New York Court ordered that Prince should pay $3,948,798 to Revelations i.e the Perfume Company for the out-of-the-pocket losses. The court also observed that it did not look like Prince did not act with any malicious intent and so he was not liable to pay the punitive and the lost profit damages to the company. Breach of Contract was one legal rule which was applied and its subsequent defenses.
ANALYSIS
To analyze the case in-depth and understand the legal principles which are applied, we need to look at the background of the case and study the facts. In precise words, an agreement was signed between the famous musician, Prince and a cosmetics company, Revelations Perfume, and cosmetics company. It was agreed that Prince would promote and help the company in marketing their product perfume product during the upcoming music tour of his album, 3121 in ten years 2006 but, he failed to do his part and did not promote the perfume because of which the company had to incur losses. In the judgment, it was observed that the musician was liable to pay $3,948,798 to the cosmetics company. According to my, the judgment was fair. It also observed that Prince did not act with any malicious intent to cause damage to the company. Price also filed an appeal later on but, withdrew the case post some settlement. Though, the details of that settlement between the parties weren’t disclosed.
While signing any major contracts, people often think about the agreements and huge companies often sign an agreement with individuals like Prince because the individuals are capable to cost a huge sum of money, if he or she breaches the contract. As demonstrated, the musician was liable to pay $3.95 million to the company. According to my, the legal rules applied were also fair as the musician did a breach of contract by not fulfilling his duty and resulting in the non-compliance of his duty after which he was liable to pay the out-of-the-pocket damages. According to me, if the musician didn’t know that he would be skipping the interviews, canceling shows, and his upcoming tour, he should not have signed the contract. The judgment was fair and since the malicious intent of the musician was not proven, he wasn’t liable to pay the punitive damages. The case was not a complex one or one with a lot of twists and turns but, even such small cases can prove the establishment of legal principles like the breach of contract and the subsequent defenses.
CONCLUSION
Breach of contract is an important principle in the law of contracts. As we saw in this case, the musician was held liable for the breach of contract, though it wasn’t with any malicious intent and he had to pay for the damages. The plaintiff, Revelations, and cosmetics company had no evidence to prove the defendants, Prince’s malicious intent and so Prince wasn’t liable for the punitive damages and so, Revelations’ petition for punitive damages was denied. The businesses in cases like these should be experienced so that they can be dealt with within a short span of time with negotiation and agreements of both parties. This case was filed in 2008 but, the final judgment by the Supreme Court was passed in the month of January 2011.