I don't think their right to sell the album comes from this 'record contract' with Adam because then he wouldn't still be co-owner of his copyrights - I think they're selling the album via a licensing contract with Wilshire, the other co-owner of the copyrights. They've actually said as much, haven't they?
This is just speculation, but I get the sense the plan was for Adam to go onto AI to gain exposure for this album - only HiFi, Wilshire, Adam didn't expect him to actually do so well he'd get himself a REAL record contract, one that is exclusive with a big-name label.
Legally speaking HiFi does probably have the POTENTIAL power to go to court to demand Adam fulfill the terms of the their option contract (ie the 'record deal') and present them with a 'finished demo', which would then allow the option portion to kick in and then give them first right to in good faith negotiate with Adam for an 'exclusive record contract' - one that would theoretically allow them to sell the album under the agreement between Adam and HiFi (one which they currently don't have), rather than the agreement they have with Wilshire.
The thing is that HiFi I don't think has the capacity to in good faith actually legally compel Adam to sign an 'exclusive record contract' with them which would ever actually allow them to sell his music under such an agreement because Adam's status has changed and the terms of Adam's contract with RCA, HiFi is likely not able to match.
In essense, what that would mean is that if HiFi took this to court, and even IF they were to prevail, they'd be in no different position than they are now. It would only affect Adam by delaying his ability to re-sign with RCA in the event that the current contract were to get voided as a result of prevailing from a prospective lawsuit. And therefore release of his RCA music would also be delayed by the length of time HiFi was granted to negotiate a 'good faith exclusive' recording contract with Adam - probably not longer than 6 months.
The point being that (1) AI's contract is ambiguous - you'd have to go through the history of all the contestants who were ever dismissed from the show because of 'record contracts' to know whether they've demonstrated a consistent history, and even then the terms specify that they handle each situation on a case by case basis. Hence no rules were broken; and (2) HiFi has nothing to gain by actually holding Adam to his 'record contract' with them, but RCA and Adam would lose momentum.
Hence, this 'record contract's' only relevance is with regards to how much money HiFi is going to be able to get out of RCA to get him to stop being a pest. I think HiFi was hoping to still make $ from On With The Show - like they said, it was always the plan to release it. Probably once Adam signed with RCA it also always became the plan to exploit the 'record contract' for cash as well.
They're just using the media to be annoying to max out their payment . . . annoying probably comes pretty easy to Hecker . . .
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So now Hi Fi Records is saying that Adam Lambert signed a recording contract with them in 2008 (via MJ's Big Blog). Hi Fi is saying that it has a record contract signed by Adam on Feb. 12, 2008. If this is true, he probably wasn't out of the contract by the time he tried out for Idol in the summer of 2008, meaning he violated the terms Idol sets forth for the show's contestants (you can't have a current recording contract). So it's pretty obvious to assume why his old label is mad: Adam signed a contract with them, he decided it wasn't good enough for him, and he probably tried to get out of it by going on Idol.
We'll keep you updated on the drama, because watching Adam sqiurm over the old tracks is pretty funny. He recorded them one year ago, yet they now don't reflect the music he is currently working on? That's called being a sell out, Adam. If he did sign a contract with Hi Fi, then they have every right to release his music. Guess we'll see if the contract materializes soon.
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