“Dead Man Statute” No Bar to Testimony About Alleged Oral Contract for Share of Royalties from Ben E. King Songs
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York decided that New York's “dead man statute,” N.Y.C.P.L.R §4519, which bars an “interested” litigation party from testifying about communications with a deceased person, didn't bar Chuck Rubin, the founder of plaintiff Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation (AREC), from testifying about discussions he had with the late artist Ben E. King — in which Rubin claims King orally agreed that AREC had a right to share in the King's royalties.
