Dionne Warwick Catalog Amid A Contentious Lawsuit

Photo Credit: Dionne Warwick by Neil Grabowsky for Montclair Film / CC by 2.0

Dionne Warwick files eight counterclaims against the royalty collection agency that sued her last year, accusing them of “pilfering” millions.

It’s been quiet on the Dionne Warwick front since the company that negotiated her deal for the sample used in Doja Cat’s “Walk On By” sued the legendary singer last year, alleging breach of contract. Now, Warwick and her legal team have filed eight different counterclaims against Artists Rights Enforcement Corp. (AREC), accusing them of “pilfering” millions of dollars.

According to Warwick’s filing submitted on Monday, March 9, AREC operated as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” by failing to provide any accounting statements for over 23 years. Warwick further alleges that AREC “torpedoed” a potential deal with Primary Wave late last year by falsely claiming they “owned” 50% of her recording catalog’s royalty streams, effectively blocking her from selling and profiting off of those assets.

The filing contends that AREC incorrectly took a 50% cut of all Warwick’s royalty income from several sources—including Sony, Warner, Rhino, PPL, and SoundExchange—based solely on a limited 2001 agreement that was only intended to cover unpaid royalties from a specific, now defunct label.

Back in December, AREC sued Warwick, alleging breach of contract and “unjust enrichment.” The firm claimed it spent decades helping the R&B legend recover royalties, including negotiating the Doja Cat “Walk On By” deal, and that Warwick was “trying to evade paying” AREC “hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.”

The firm claimed the work it performed for Warwick over the years accrued more than $2.5 million in revenue for the singer, including an average of over $350,000 annually over the past five years alone. But Warwick’s counterclaims allege that AREC “cloak[ed] itself in professional credibility while concealing its own self-interest.”

“Through these counterclaims, Ms. Warwick seeks to expose AREC’s performative ethics and vindicate her rights and obtain restitution for the damages caused by AREC’s decades-long pilfering of millions of dollars in royalty income,” her attorneys wrote.

Warwick is seeking punitive damages of at least $1 million on multiple counts, plus a full equitable accounting of all money AREC collected on her behalf over the past two decades-plus. She is also demanding a trial by jury.