Media Mention
Richard Busch Secures Sixth Circuit Reversal for Estate of P-Funk Keyboardist Bernie Worrell
Published: Jun 8, 2026
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Busch is widely recognized as a leading entertainment and copyright litigator. He serves as Counsel in Adams & Reese's Nashville office and is a member of the firm's Global Intellectual Property Practice Group. He focuses on intellectual property litigation, entertainment law, and commercial litigation, and is known for his results-driven approach, having secured multiple landmark wins and record settlements for high-profile clients.
The Sixth Circuit’s decision revived Worrell's copyright suit against group co-founder George Clinton and his company Thang Inc., ruling that a jury must decide whether Worrell partly owned the recordings he helped create. A three-judge panel reversed summary judgment for Clinton and Thang, finding there are factual disputes over when Clinton and his company clearly rejected Worrell's alleged ownership rights in P-Funk sound recordings.
Busch argued the appeal on behalf of the Worrell Estate. He told Law360 that his client is pleased with the court’s decision, stating "As the Sixth Circuit noted, Mr. Clinton avoided a 2020 breach of contract action by claiming, for the first time, that he never signed a recording agreement with Mr. Worrell, apparently not understanding that by repudiating the agreement, he was walking right into the claim in this case that he and Bernie were, therefore, as co-authors, both owners of the sound recordings they create. We now look forward to trying that issue in the district court."
Worrell played a central role in P-Funk's sound as a composer, arranger, and "keyboardist of astounding ability," contributing to "hit after hit in the heyday of P-Funk," the court said. The estate claims Worrell believed a 1976 agreement governed his rights, giving Thang ownership of certain recordings in exchange for royalties. But Clinton and Thang later defeated a New York contract suit by arguing that Thang never signed the agreement, a position that, the three-judge panel said, opened the door to the estate's copyright theory.
The case will go back to the federal district court for trial unless a settlement is reached. In a statement to Billboard, Busch spoke candidly about his client, “Bernie Worrell was the heart and soul of Parliament-Funkadelic but had to spend years of his life chasing Mr. Clinton for what he believed Mr. Clinton owed him. While he is no longer with us, Bernie’s loving wife Judie continues to fight for Bernie’s rights.”
The case is styled Estate of George Bernard Worrell v. Thang Inc., No. 25-1863, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
