Toots’ former manager wins copyright suit

Artiste manager and producer Cabel 'Jeffrey' Stephenson is upbeat after winning his copyright suit against the estate of ska and reggae icon, Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals fame. And he is adamant that Toots would be happy.

"Toots would not want it any other way," a thrilled Stephenson told THE WEEKEND STAR. "I am sure he would say to me, 'Pardie Jeffrey, you have done right, my son, and this is going help the industry.' He would say to me, 'Yuh know we are trendsetters.' Toots is a trendsetter, he is number one for a lot of things and even in death he becomes a number one for exercising justice. Mi love mi boss."

A former manager of Toots, Stephenson took the estate to court in a bid to force the executors to hand over a Samsung hard drive containing songs for an album project that he was working on with Droop Lion, a singer who is signed to him. Court documents state that in early 2020, Stephenson "commenced the process of recording material for the compilation and release of an album by Droop Lion. Mr Stephenson indicated that he did this at the studio owned and operated by Mr Hibbert".

Toots was also the producer of the project, but Stephenson was the executive producer, the person who was spending the money to fund the project. Following Toots' death on September 11, 2020, the estate detained the hard drive. In an effort to recover it, Stephenson took the estate -- Doreen Hibbert, widow of Toots, and Cressida Rattigan and Leba Thomas in their capacity as named executors -- to court. The matter was heard from February 7 to 11, on March 4 and June 1, 2022. Stephenson defended his action.

"I had made arrangements with Mrs Hibbert. I called her many times so that we could sit down and she keep saying that she would meet with me, but she did not. So, I had no other choice but to go through the courts to finalise on this. The fact is that others in the industry would go another route, but I couldn't do that. I am feeling very good about the result, not just for myself but for the industry. Others will have their rights protected and the international community will see that we in Jamaica are moving in the right way by using the court to resolve our dispute," Stephenson said.

He added, "I miss Toots and I know that he is satisfied today that we have exercised our rights. And that is what he wanted."

According to the court documents, Stephenson "spent US$81,000 on the production of the album and he stands to lose all that unless he is able to enter into an arrangement for the commercialisation of the album. He claims costs and any other order this honourable court deems fit".

Attorney-at-law Keith Bishop appeared for Stephenson, while Queen's Counsel Ian Wilkinson appeared on behalf of Hibbert and Thomas. Jacqueline Cummings, instructed by Archer, Cummings and Company, was the attorney for Rattigan.