February 05, 2008

By By Susan Butler, N.Y.

EverGreen Copyrights co-CEO David Schulhof has confirmed to Billboard.biz that his company is bidding on the assets of Death Row Records, which are currently in bankruptcy. Warner Music Group placed a bid for $25 million for the assets with the bankruptcy trustee this week. Koch Music is expected to be bidding as well.

EverGreen, a music publisher, holds rights in the writer's share of songs composed by Tupac Shakur. Schulhof says that the majority of assets appears to be those of Shakur -- both master recordings and compositions -- including previously unreleased recordings. The masters would complement EverGreen's rights in the songs.

The company plans on placing a counter-bid to WMG's bid by April, the deadline for bids, he adds.

Sorting through the assets to determine what rights Death Row holds in masters and publishing is proving to be a challenge. But approval rights for future uses of Shakur's works will need to go through EverGreen and Shakur's heir, Schulhof says. So anyone who acquires the assets will still need to work with EverGreen.

The publisher has been working with the bankruptcy trustee for several months now trying to clear rights, Schulhof adds. Death Row's record keeping, including maintaining signed contracts and copyright information, was not maintained in a professional manner, he says.

WMG declined to comment.

Subscribe to Billboard magazine today!