Just Another Check in the Mail

It turns out those kids probably did need an education -- maybe they would have fought for those royalty checks sooner...

A group of former schoolchildren who made the line "We don't need no education" famous may soon have some extra pocket money.

That's because the one-time students, now thirtysomething adults, are suing to recover royalties they are owed for working on the Pink Floyd song Another Brick in the Wall Part 2.

...The 23 ex-pupils, who were teenagers at the time the song was recorded, are not suing the band; instead, they are taking advantage of a royalty fund established by a new copyright law in 1997.

Broadcasters pay into the fund, and under the legislation the children qualify as session musicians. They stand to gain the equivalent of a few hundred dollars each.

Their claim has been hard to establish because the recording session was done in secret. The song's lyrics were considered scandalous at the time.

At the band's request, music teacher Alun Renshaw took the children, then students at Islington Green School, to a nearby studio without the permission of the school's headmistress.

I wonder if the San Francisco 49ers will sue for the royalties from Hip to Be Square.