MONKEY WRENCH TOSSED INTO ROCK RECORDING DEAL

Columbia Pictures says Arista Records monkeyed with a financial agreement to continue marketing records by the recently revived 1960s rock group the Monkees.

In a trademark infringement suit, Columbia says it’s also upset that Arista has released a new album that apes the Monkees’ previous performances but contains only two of the original Monkees.

The Monkees--Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork--appeared on their own network television series in the mid-1960s and released several hit albums and singles, including “I’m a Believer” and “Last Train to Clarksville.”

Recently, all but Nesmith reunited for a successful concert tour and several of their old tunes are back on the record charts.

Columbia contends Arista no longer has the rights to market Monkee music.

Arista denies the charge. Philip Wild, a senior attorney for the New York-based record firm, said Tuesday, “There’s no basis for any claim.”

Under a 1979 agreement with Columbia, according to the lawsuit, Arista was licensed to manufacture and sell Monkees records for seven years, ending on Nov. 1. But if Columbia’s royalties from the old Monkees music exceeded $100,000 over the last two years of the agreement, it would automatically be extended for another seven years.

The Monkees revival began earlier this year and Columbia says the $103,575 in royalties paid by Arista was artificially inflated “solely to trigger the automatic extension of the agreement.”