The Rights to History

We got involved in the Bobby Sharp Documentary project after a book based on Sharp's life was released last December.  

Bobby Sharp was a songwriter of some repute during the time of Tin Pan Alley. His tunes were recorded by artists like Sarah Vaughn, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Ray Charles but it was hit, "Unchain My Heart," in 1961 that catapulted him to fame. Although Bobby sold his rights to "Unchain" for a pittance to pay debts, he found out years later that he had been cheated out of royalties. He decided to sue, and the courts awarded him millions. In 1988, he reclaimed the copyright to the song, a year after Joe Cocker recorded it and put it back on the charts. 

Sharps friend and trustee of his estate, Natasha Miller, tells us she had been approached by multiple producers and writers asking for rights to his story. She says she picked one writer because of she seemed to really care about telling the story the way it deserved to be shared. However, Miller found the finished product unacceptable. She called it a horrifically fictionalized version of the songwriter and a 180 degree departure from the pitch the author gave when seeking the rights to his story. Sharp fans have decried what they describe as a less compelling version of 50 Shades of Gray. To offset the damage done to the songwriter's reputation, Sharp's supporters decided to fund a documentary. Rather than letting the idea lie fallow, it took root... and is now in the early stages of development. 

History may be written by the victors but fans of Sharp vowed not to let it be rewritten simply because the rights to a story had fallen into the wrong hands, again.