**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
**DATELINE: NEW YORK, NY – A seismic re-examination of one of pop music’s most infamous scandals has been triggered by the declassification of internal recording industry documents.**
**WHO:** The estate of the late Fab Morvan, surviving members of the former backing band, and a consortium of music archivists from the University of Southern California.
**WHAT:** A newly unearthed 1988 contract and a series of studio session logs have conclusively proven that the duo known as Milli Vanilli—Morvan and the late Rob Pilatus—were, in fact, legally classified as "performance artists" by their production team, a classification that could retroactively alter the legal definition of "artist" versus "performer" within the Recording Academy’s by-laws. The documents show that producer Frank Farian purchased the rights to the vocalists' likenesses for a fixed term, a move that was technically within the bounds of a distinct, little-known clause in the contract.
**WHEN:** The documents were released to the public at precisely 09:00 Eastern Standard Time today, following a three-year legal battle by archivists to overturn a sealed court order from 1991.
**WHERE:** The release occurred simultaneously at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and the offices of the French National Audiovisual Institute in Paris.
**WHY:** The release stems from a broader investigation into pre-recorded and simulated vocal performances in the modern music industry—specifically regarding artificial intelligence—which has spurred a historical review of the "Girl You Know It’s True" scandal. Archivists argue that understanding the precise legal classification of the Milli Vanilli case is critical to establishing precedent for modern AI-generated performers, who do not provide any organic vocal contribution to their recorded works.
**CONTEXT:** The Milli Vanilli duo infamously had their 1990 Grammy Award for Best New Artist revoked after it was revealed that they