- WHAT TIME IS IT?
- IT’S TIME FOR THEM TO GO!

Who are they?
For once, let’s tell it like it is: bootleggers….
I have meant for quite a while now to set the record straight when it comes to this issue of works of so many artists – including and namely Don Varner – having been and still being so routinely duplicated, and sold, while totally ignoring all legal obligations still required to be fulfilled. In other words, again, bootlegging….

Why now? Simply because it has recently been brought to my attention that two of the titles recorded by my husband, Don Varner, have been released without my authorization. And it comes a time when enough is enough.

Since this is about clarifying, I would like to define “bootleg” and “bootlegging”:
a : to bootleg - to produce, reproduce, or distribute illicitly or without authorization
b: to bootleg - to produce, distribute, or sell without permission or illegally
c: bootlegging - the act of selling illegally or without permission

I am certain that many others, artists themselves, or close ones, will relate to what I am going to say regarding this matter:

I am the widow of Don Varner, writer, performing and recording artist. My husband passed away October 7th 2002; it will be eight years this year. Don Varner started his career as a performing artist very young, and in the late 60′s, as a recording artist. The genre of music he wrote, performed and recorded is Soul Music. He recorded a number of titles. Like many during that era, he performed a lot. Business was different then, not better.

This is not about retelling any story, sadly, many have the same one when it comes to this side of the business. When I came on the scene, because of my legal background in international copyright law, I was able to investigate this particular issue regarding his works. It became then obvious that my husband’s recordings had been consistently bootlegged for many years, internationally.

Apparently, we were told, nobody knew where my husband could have been. There were even rumors that he had died very young. There were “sightings” of Don Varner mentioned, for example, in Virginia of all places, where I can say, without the shadow of a doubt, he never set foot in his entire life.

Don was always performing and very visible wherever he lived. And I found it hard to believe that anybody ever tried to actually find him. Hence, bootlegging kept on going.

As mentioned above, I am the widow of Don Varner. I am also, and have been for many years, his publisher. I am his ONLY publisher. I am also the ONLY owner of all copyrights to ALL of his works. This means that I own the copyrights not only to ALL his works as a writer, but I also own ALL of the copyrights to ALL of what is legally called his sound recordings. That’s it, that’s that…

Strictly and legally, the law says that “ownership of a sound recording fixed on a mechanical support does NOT carry with it ownership of the works recorded on said mechanical support.” Based on that, any release, anywhere in the world, in any format, without my knowledge and authorization is a BOOTLEG. It is illegal and constitutes infringement of copyright.

Any individual or entity who claims to have any right to reproduce and commercialize, or license, any of Don Varner’s works and/or recordings without my previous consent in due form is a BOOTLEGGER. This has been a known fact for a good number of years now, to most involved today in the business of Soul Music when it comes to Don Varner.

When it comes to licensing any of Don’s works/recordings, we have a licensing agent. He is the ONLY ONE with the right to LEGALLY license Don Varner’s works/recordings. Nobody else can. Again, anybody else claiming to have any right to Don Varner’s works/recordings and proceeding to use them based on that false claim is a BOOTLEGGER.

There is only one legitimate, legal release of Don Varner’s titles: it is the album released by Cherry Records titled Finally Got Over, and it was released in 2005.

Don and I have a daughter, Donatienne, his co-heir with me of all the rights to her father’s legacy. I choose, deliberately, to not name anybody here who was or is involved in the illegal reproduction and sale of my husband’s works and recordings.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again: to all the ones who, through those many years, truly loved my husband’s music and voice, both my daughter and I will forever say thank you and love you back. To the ones who always knew that what they were doing was not only wrong but illegal then, and even more so today, both my daughter and I say: it’s time, it’s high time to stop, it’s more than time to face the music, literally…. It’s time for the bootleggers to go…. We are, obviously, very visible, easy to find and to get in touch with.

In Don’s own words, when he was alive, and ringing even louder today that he left us, talking about what was done, and obviously is still being perpetrated: “We have given enough!”

This update was made on Saturday, June 11th, 2011 at 6 PM by Francine Varner
No Comments »

For those in the know, Don Varner was a highly-revered soul singer/songwriter/producer, acclaimed by soul music fans and his peers alike, who died suddenly on October 7, 2002, at the age of 59.  This site is dedicated to his legacy, aimed not just at those who, indeed, knew his story but for the wider audience to understand his passion for the music he loved.  Through the site’s individual sections you will find the truth in everything there is to know about Don Varner including, by way of the interviews in the ‘Press & Media’ section, Don in his own words.  Universally accepted that the size of his success while alive was less than he deserved, nevertheless Don’s attitude would always remain positive, noting “The good part [was] that I met a lot of people and made some very good friends in the business.”  From the moment I first spoke with Don in the Spring of 2000, I was proud to become one of those friends.  Don also met his wife, Francine, while performing at the European Jazz Festival in Nice in the South of France in 1985 and she and their daughter, Donatienne, have compiled this site, dedicated to his memory.  They hope that you will enjoy your visit and come back often.

David Cole
Editor, ‘In The Basement’ magazine

This update was made on Sunday, March 6th, 2011 at 7 PM by Donatienne
No Comments »