Rap Duo, Disney in Dispute on Album Rights

The manager of the Insane Clown Posse said Thursday that Disney-owned Hollywood Records is demanding “substantial” compensation--reportedly as much as $1 million--for the rap group to leave the label along with the album that the company recalled from stores last week because of “inappropriate” lyrics.

Hollywood Records denied the charges, and a spokesman said negotiations to release the group from its contract are ongoing.

Still, the group’s manager, Alex Abbiss, maintains the group is being unfairly treated.

“Michael Ovitz gets to walk away with $90 million,” he said, referring to the severance package given to the former Disney executive last year, “but this penniless band that needs every dime it can get is being hung out to dry.”

Abbiss said that during ongoing talks with Hollywood and Disney officials this week, the Detroit-based duo was told that it was free to seek another label contract, but can’t re-release the album “The Great Milenko” without buying the rights from Hollywood.

“I thought that was ridiculous,” the manager said. “I told them they’re not taking into consideration all the hours the band put into this project and all the work my staff and I put into this project.”

But a Hollywood label spokeswoman said, “It’s untrue that Hollywood Records is trying to take a dime out of ICP’s pockets.”

The label reportedly stands to lose about $1 million from its investment in the group and may be reluctant to let a rival company benefit from the enormous publicity generated by Hollywood’s virtually unprecedented action last week.

Abbiss said that the Insane Clown Posse, the cartoonish duo of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope that was virtually unknown outside the Midwest before last week, spoke with about a dozen labels this week in Los Angeles. But he doesn’t believe that any of the labels he spoke with would be willing to ante up the money that Hollywood is demanding for “The Great Milenko.”

A longtime music industry publicist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Disney is making a mistake if it is demanding $1 million from the Insane Clown Posse, thus prolonging its association with a group that it obviously finds objectionable.

“When you have a public relations crisis, money is the least of the issues,” the publicist said Friday. “And $1 million on the bottom line of Disney is nothing--not even a drop in the bucket. . . .

“Disney should be writing these guys a check and telling them to keep their mouths shut and stay as far away as possible. They should be saying, ‘This isn’t our kind of music. Here’s your masters. Here’s your career. Goodbye.’ ”

Abbiss and the group’s attorney, Lindsey Feldman of Marina del Rey, are considering a lawsuit but aren’t sure they can afford the time and expense. The group might be tied up in court for years before it could release the record.

By leaving Hollywood without the album, the group would have to spend possibly months in the studio recording a new album. Under standard industry contracts, the duo wouldn’t be able to release newly recorded versions of any songs from the collection for five years.

“We’re just shocked,” said Abbiss, who has alleged that Disney’s original action in recalling the record was in response to an announced boycott of the company and its products by Southern Baptists, whose congregations number about 15 million members. Disney has previously denied any connection to the boycott.

Meanwhile, with most retailers keeping their original shipments, “The Great Milenko” continues to sell. It sold about 18,000 copies during its first week in stores to land at No. 63 on the pop chart.