No news: Disputes over music block the Bob Marley film project! Check it out on Surforeggae!

The family of musician Bob Marley refused to authorize the use of any of his songs in a Weinstein Co. film about the reggae star, and this despite the fact that his widow, Rita Marley, is the executive producer of the feature film. There is a Martin Scorsese documentary about the musician being produced by Tuff Gong Pictures, owned by the Marley family, and Steven Bing's company Shangri La. This would be the first film authorized to reproduce the singer's songs. Family members involved with Scorsese's production said they were surprised to discover that the Weinstein film would be released in late 2009, putting a damper on the documentary's February 2010 release, the same month as Marley's birth. "Martin Scorsese does not want to release his film together with a similar project, and Steven Bing has already reached agreements with several companies that are now committed to us," said Chris Blackwell, president of Blue Mountain, the music publisher of Marley's songs. "Weinstein project threatens documentary." Ziggy Marley, one of the reggae star's sons and executive producer of the Scorsese film, said that "all of our efforts and all of our support are currently going towards the documentary." "We believe this project is the best way to represent our father's life from his perspective, and any other film project regarding our father will be empty without his music." Rita Marley told The Reporter that when she sold the film rights to her book to Weinstein, the contract did not include the right to use her husband's music. Terri Dipalo, a lawyer for the Marley family, denied that the still-unnamed documentary is a ruse to force Weinstein to buy the rights to Marley's songs or to inflate the price of those songs. The lawyer also responded that "anything is possible" when asked whether Marley's songs could end up in Weinstein's production. Blackwell argues that the Weinstein biopic be delayed until at least 2015 in order to prevent the two projects from colliding. He stated that he spoke with Harvard Weinstein on March 13 about the issue, but that nothing has been decided yet. According to Blackwell, there is an expectation that an agreement will be signed soon allowing Weinstein Co. to participate in Scorsese's documentary and postpone its project. Matthew Frankel, a spokesperson for Weinstein, said: "We have enormous respect for the Marley family and Chris Blackwell. And we are talking to find ways to benefit both projects."

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Click here and see Bob Marley with the clip "Is This Love".