Stephanie Iken, Attorney at Law

Why authorship clarity matters early

The dispute between Frank Zappa and John Lennon offers a useful lesson for musicians. It shows how uncertainty around authorship and ownership, even during an informal live performance, can follow a song for decades once it enters permanent circulation.

The disagreemhttps://youtu.be/mBAgKLOTWDg?si=Vm9jAhnsHotMQOtment began with a single night of music and ended with an archival release that fixed one version of events in the historical record. Clear communication at the outset could have prevented much of what followed.

The Fillmore East performance, June 1971

In June 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono joined Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention onstage at the Fillmore East in New York. Lennon sang on “Well (Baby Please Don’t Go)” and participated in extended improvisation during Zappa’s set.

One portion of the performance drew from Zappa’s composition King Kong, a piece he had written and recorded years earlier with the Mothers of Invention. The music moved between composed sections and open improvisation, with Lennon contributing vocals and Ono adding vocal interjections.

The performance felt informal. It took place inside Zappa’s band, repertoire, and direction. No public discussion of authorship occurred that night. The absence of clarity mattered later.

Release on Some Time in New York City

In 1972, Lennon and Ono released Some Time in New York City. Material from the Fillmore East performance appeared on the album in edited form, including a track titled Jam Rag.

Frank Zappa objected to the release. He asserted that Jam Rag was not a separate composition, but music derived directly from King Kong, presented under a different name. From his perspective, the structure, themes, and performance framework belonged to him regardless of guest participation.

The core problem is that Lennon treated the performance as a shared musical experience, but Zappa treated it as an authored work. Without an agreement or clear understanding, the same recording carried two very different meanings.

Why assumptions create disputes

Zappa viewed composition as ownership. Credit defined responsibility. Improvisation existed inside authored works rather than replacing them. Guest appearances did not change that framework.

Lennon’s creative practice during the early 1970s emphasized immediacy and participation. Presence carried creative weight. That approach shaped how the Fillmore material was handled on Some Time in New York City.

Neither approach was unusual among musicians. The conflict arose because those assumptions were never aligned.

For musicians, this is the warning sign. Informality during creation does not survive release. Once music enters the record, questions of credit and ownership become fixed and enforceable.

Lingering consequences

The disagreement did not end with corrected credits. It followed the recordings for years and eventually surfaced in a different form. In 1992, Frank Zappa released Playground Psychotics, an archival project built around the June 1971 Fillmore East performances with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The album included A Small Eternity With Yoko Ono, drawn from the same performances.

The track reflected Zappa’s continuing frustration tied to the Fillmore appearance and its aftermath. Rather than addressing the dispute through public statements, Zappa embedded his perspective directly into the record.

Playground Psychotics and control after the fact

In 1992, Zappa released Playground Psychotics. The album drew heavily from the 1971 Fillmore East performances, rehearsals, and onstage dialogue involving Lennon and Ono.

Zappa controlled the project completely. He selected the recordings, shaped the sequence, and restored context around the improvisations. Lennon appears clearly as a guest participant within Zappa’s structure. The presentation clarified authorship without negotiation.

By that point, control came through curation rather than collaboration.

The lesson for musicians

This episode shows how easily creative ambiguity becomes legal and personal conflict. Informal jams, guest appearances, and spontaneous performances still generate copyrightable material. Without early clarity, later releases can reopen questions that feel settled in the moment.

Musicians benefit from addressing authorship and ownership early, even when collaboration feels casual. Clear expectations protect relationships as much as they protect rights.

The Fillmore East performance lasted a night. The recordings endured. The disagreement followed because the terms were never defined.

That is the lesson.