Dionne Warwick has filed a lawsuit in opposition to an artist rights agency, accusing the corporate of stealing “millions of dollars in royalty income.”
Artist Rights Enforcement Corp. first sued Warwick in December, alleging it was owed “hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars” for work recovering the singer’s royalties. Their clearance of the “Walk On By” pattern included in Doja Cat‘s chart-topping “Paint the Town Red” was talked about as a worthwhile transaction from which it had not been paid by Warwick.
On Monday, Warwick’s attorneys filed a countersuit, accusing AREC of being a “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” that solely claims to assist artists “fight to make your music yours again.” According to the singer’s workforce, AREC was “cloaking itself in professional credibility while concealing its own self-interest.”
Pitchfork has reached out to each Warwick’s representatives and AREC for additional remark.
Warwick first bought concerned with AREC in 2001, when she wanted assist recovering royalties owed to her from early recordings primarily distributed by Scepter Records. That 12 months, Warwick signed a one-page contract with AREC, which acknowledged that she can be entitled to “an ongoing fifty percent of all sums and assets which are recovered.” The declare experiences that Warwick was not represented by a lawyer on the time.
According to the countersuit, from 2002 by means of 2025, AREC collected and deposited into its personal checking account “a 50% share of something and the whole lot that flowed on account of her inventive output from 1962 to 2001″—an amount purportedly unknown to Warwick. Her suit alleges it wasn’t until September 2025 that she sought aid from the Davis Firm, which requested a complete set of files pertaining to Warwick from Gabin Ruben, chief executive officer at AREC.
The complaint alleges the documents sent back did not adequately reflect the 23 years of AREC service provided to Warwick. In response, the Davis Firm sent a termination letter to AREC with a list of demands, including that AREC provided copies of all royalty statements relating to Warwick and that AREC no longer accepts payments on its behalf.
According to the countersuit, AREC’s response to the termination notice was their 2025 lawsuit against Warwick. “Rather than addressing the reasonable demands made by Ms. Warwick’s counsel or offering any justification for her numerous defalcations, AREC instead chose to initiate this litigation against Ms. Warwick,” the counterclaim alleges.
The counterclaim also includes several other complaints, including breach of fiduciary duty, fraud by omission, and interference with prospective business relations. “When you strip away the illusion manufactured by AREC and expose the lie,” Warwick’s lawyers write, “AREC’s efforts were at best nothing more than administrative in nature, or activities that music lawyers routinely perform for an hourly fee.”
Warwick is currently working on what she says is her final album, DWuets. The project features duets with Cynthia Erivo, Kehlaniand extra high-profile artists. The first single, “Ocean in the Desert,” arrives on March 20.
