Editing Olivia Newton-John (section)

====Lawsuit against MCA Records====
In April 1975, Newton-John and [[MCA Records|MCA]] entered into an initial two-year, four-album deal in which she was expected to deliver two LPs a year for the record company. MCA also had the option of extending the contract for six more records and three more years; and if the artist did not deliver on time, MCA was allegedly allowed to lengthen the term of the contract.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stahl |first=Matt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPaXqeXEA1wC&q=Newton-JOhn+1978+lawsuit+MCA+Records&pg=PA123 |title=Unfree Masters: Popular Music and the Politics of Work |date=2013 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=9780822353430}}</ref>

Per her new agreement with MCA, Newton-John's first three albums, beginning with ''[[Clearly Love]]'', came out on schedule. Her fourth, ''[[Making a Good Thing Better]]'', was late. This delay occurred around the same time she was working on ''[[Grease (film)|Grease]]'' for [[RSO Records]], and the postponement arguably gave MCA—which seemed to want to keep its hold on the performer—the right to exercise its option, extend its contract, and stop her from signing with another enterprise. She also did not deliver a "newly optioned" album.<ref>{{cite web |title=MCA Records, Inc. v. Newton-John (1979) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/90/18.html |access-date=30 August 2019 |website=Justia Law}}</ref>

On 31 May 1978, Newton-John and MCA each filed breach-of-contract actions against the other. Newton-John sued for $10 million and claimed that MCA's failure to adequately promote and advertise her product freed her from their agreement. MCA's countersuit requested $1 million in damages and an injunction against Newton-John working with another music firm.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Fong-Torres |first1=Ben |date=27 July 1978 |title=Olivia Newton-John Battles Back |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/olivia-newton-john-battles-back-240738/ |access-date=30 August 2019 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref>

Ultimately, Newton-John was forbidden from offering her recording services to another label until the five-year pact had run its course. The original covenant was not automatically extended, though she had not duly supplied the total sum of vinyls indicated in the contract.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Knoedelseder |first1=William Jr. |date=18 August 1985 |title='Free' Records Cause Discord With Artists |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-18-fi-1709-story.html |access-date=11 August 2022 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

As a result of the lawsuit, record companies changed their contracts to be based on the number of albums recorded by a musician and not a specific number of years.<ref>{{cite web |date=25 August 2017 |title=How a Rock Band's Lawsuit Could Upend Record Deals Everywhere |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/how-a-rock-bands-lawsuit-could-upend-record-deals-everywhere-1031489 |access-date=30 August 2019 |website=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref>