A large collection of Marvin Gaye’s unreleased music has been discovered in Belgium. The recently found material has likely been hidden away for over 40 years alongside a potentially valuable assortment of stage outfits and notebooks. Marvin Gaye, a renowned singer, relocated to the coastal city of Ostend in 1981. The move was an effort to beat his cocaine addiction, which he struggled with during his time in London. While living in Belgium, Marvin recorded one of his greatest hits, “Sexual Healing.”
The family of a Belgian musician Charles Dumolin, with whom Marvin lived for a time, asserts that the collection of tapes belongs to them. Attorney Alex Trappeniers confirms this and said, “They belong to [the family] because they were left in Belgium 42 years ago. Marvin gave [the tapes] to them and said, ‘Do whatever you want with them’ and never came back. That’s important.” After listening to all 30 tapes, Trappeniers discovered that they contained 66 demos of newly created songs. Some of the songs were completed and sounded as good as Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.”
Given that Belgian law specifies that the ownership of any property becomes yours after 30 years, regardless of how it was acquired, Dumolin’s family legitimately owns the tapes. However, this does not cover intellectual property; hence Trappeniers and his associates could legally possess the physical tapes containing the music. This ownership, however, does not grant them the right to publish the songs. The heirs of Marvin Gaye theoretically have the copyrights to the previously unreleased tracks; however, they cannot access the music without retaining control of the tapes.
Trappeniers believes that a compromise is necessary as both parties stand to benefit regarding the collection. He said, “I think we both benefit, the family of Marvin and the collection in the hands of [Dumolin’s heirs]. If we put our hands together and find the right people in the world, the Mark Ronsons or the Bruno Mars…I’m not here to make suggestions but to say, ‘OK, let’s listen to this and let’s make the next album.'”
The Ed Townsend estate withdrew their four-year appeal last year in the Ed Sheeran plagiarism lawsuit filed in 2016. This trial was instigated over the estate’s claim that the “Thinking Out Loud” singer copied Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” A victory was awarded to Sheeran, who was declared not guilty of plagiarism in May
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