Gloria Gaynor's ex-producer claims singer is being 'ill-advised' after she sues him for $2million

Gloria Gaynor’s former producer has warned the disco legend is being ‘taken advantage of’ after she accused him of wrongfully claiming the rights to a catalogue of her biggest hits.

Gaynor, 81, best known for her anthem I Will Survive, claims she is owed $2 million after Joel Diamond allegedly exploited her copyrights for decades and failed to pay royalties.

Diamond, also 81, has falsely claimed ownership of eight of her songs based on a 1983 record deal, according to a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York on July 26.

The filing claims that ‘at no time did Gaynor write a song with Diamond,’ and that ‘to her knowledge, Diamond has never been a songwriter.’

But Diamond claims he has proof to show that he does in fact own the rights to seven of Gaynor’s nine masters – and even co-wrote a track with her.

He believes the ‘baseless allegations’ have been ‘concocted by someone other than Gloria in order to poison’ their decades-long friendship.

‘For over 40 years, Joel Diamond had a close, personal friendship with Gloria Gaynor that went well beyond a mere business relationship,’ his representative Bryan Freedman told DailyMail.com. ‘They shared family events and life milestones together and developed a very deep bond.

‘Gloria would even send personalized video messages to Joel on his birthday.

‘It’s truly disappointing that someone would try to take advantage of Gloria by having her sign on to a lawsuit with so many untruths which absolutely has no merit.'

They continued: ‘It is clear that these baseless allegations have been concocted by someone other than Gloria in order to poison her relationship with Joel, as well as Joel’s other relationships.’

A source added that Gaynor is being 'ill-advised.' 

Gaynor was introduced to Diamond through her then husband Linwood Simon, who ran Linwood Maxwell Music. Both parties entered into a recording agreement ‘sometime in 1983,’ according to the lawsuit.

‘Defendants have maintained this was a work for hire,’ the lawsuit reads. ‘Gaynor has denied that any work created, recorded and performed by her was a work for hire.’

A work for hire, in US copyright law, is a work that is subject to copyright and is created by employees as part of their job. 

As a result, Diamond claims he owns the rights to Gaynor’s tracks Eeny-Meeny-Mack-A-Rack, Chain of Whispers, Strive, Bull’s Eye, Only in A Love Song, I’ve Been Watching You and More Than Enough – which he co-wrote with Gaynor.

The record producer said he has never claimed to own the rights to her 1978 single You’re All I Need to Get By, which was included in her filing. The track was written by Ashford & Simpson.

DailyMail.com has been shown a collection of official documents for several tracks in question including More Than Enough.

A BMI publisher clearance form, dated September 4, 1984, shows Diamond and Gaynor share a 50-50 split. His name is also on the original vinyl record label and on a copyright registration certificate signed October 1984.

Gaynor is a co-plaintiff with Robin Randall, a songwriter who alleges that Diamond has 'fraudulently claimed ownership of copyrighted works owned by Robin and wrongfully, and without authority, entered into licensing agreements thereby.'

Randall is a composer who collaborated with her mother Judithe as part of a two-person songwriting team. Judithe died on April 3, 2002.

The lawsuit claims Diamond ‘fraudulently induced, and otherwise wrongfully caused Judithe Randall to sign over her ownership rights to many copyrighted works.’

This allegedly took place in early 2001, not long after Judithe was admitted to a mental institution and later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

‘Joel Diamond visited Judithe Randall during which time several agreements were signed,’ the lawsuit claims. ‘It is believed Judithe Randall was coerced into signing not only her name but Robin Randalls.’

A source close to Diamond told DailyMail.com: ‘Joel never met with Judithe Randall in person, nor did he ever speak with her during the last days of her life so it’s impossible he could have coerced her into signing her name as Randall claims.

‘Additionally, Joel never listed himself as co-writer on any songwriter agreement or copyright registration.’

Gaynor and Randall are seeking royalties they believe they are owed as well as a termination of their respective contracts with Diamond.

‘Since the inception of the alleged recording agreement, despite Gaynor’s repeated requests for an accounting thereof, defendants have failed to pay any royalties, provide transparency as to who Gaynor’s music was licensed to or any demonstration that Gaynor’s music was protected,’ the lawsuit reads.

‘Defendants utterly failed to live up to their obligations to keep Plaintiffs apprised of how their work was being licensed and used, while wrongfully exacting economic benefits they were not entitled to by exploiting that very relationship.’ 

Diamond and companies controlled by him, Joel Diamond Entertainment, Silver Blue Productions and Ocean Blue Music, are all listed as defendants in the filing. 

Vivian Rivera-Drohan, Gaynor’s attorney told DailyMail.com that Gaynor is determined to get what she believes she is owed in unpaid royalties.

‘If given the opportunity, we are going to prove our allegations with the evidence we have,' she said in a statement. 'Gloria is adamant that she never wrote a song with Joel. She wrote More Than Enough by herself. There is no way he co-wrote it. 

'She has also never seen a contract to ‘prove’ he was involved in the writing. Joel has not produced one contract. 

'She wants him to account for what is owed to her. She fully acknowledges the role he played in producing several of her songs – but this lawsuit is about proving he did not write any of them, has not paid her the correct royalties and has failed to be transparent.’ 

Diamond is two-time Grammy Award nominee and has produced 47 Gold and Platinum recordings as well as over 100 Billboard Charted recordings.

He has produced for singers including Engelbert Humperdinck and David Hasselhoff. 

His website lists him as a songwriter on tracks for Tom Jones, Phoebe Cates, Bill Medley, Tommy James and Jon Secada among others. 

His attorney is calling for a ‘prompt dismissal’ of the suit and insists Diamond wants ‘nothing but the best for his friend Gloria.’

DailyMail.com has contacted Gaynor and Randall's attorney for comment.