What The Beach Boys and Charles Manson Can Teach You About IP and Contract Law
The Beach Boys, Charles Manson, and IP Law: A Music Industry Cautionary Tale
At first glance, the Beach Boys and Charles Manson have almost nothing in common. One is America’s iconic surf-rock band, the other an infamous cult leader whose name is forever tied to tragedy. Yet their worlds collided in the late 1960s — and the legal fallout provides timeless lessons about contracts, copyrights, and the need for intuition in business.
The story begins with Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys, a chance encounter with Manson’s followers, and a song that sparked questions about authorship and rights. Beyond the Hollywood drama, their strange relationship highlights real issues every entrepreneur, creative, and lawyer should consider: how to protect intellectual property, when to trust your instincts, and why contracts matter more than charisma and an understanding.
Author’s Note: My fascination with The Beach Boys began in the early 1980s when they made their resurgence and started playing an annual concert on the 4th of July at the National Mall in Washington, DC. This fascination deepened with the 1990 bio-pic movie, Summer Dreams: The Story of The Beach Boys. There is a scene at the 57-minute mark of the movie that is electrifyingly, terrifying in its subtly. Before we get to what we can learn about contract law from The Beach Boys and Charles Manson, we need to travel back in time several decades to where it all began.
The Beach Boys’ Rise to Fame and Early Music Contracts
The Beach Boys started as a family affair in 1961 in Hawthorne, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Founded by the Wilson brothers – Brian, Carl, and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and Al Jardine, a school friend – they embodied the post-war fascination with southern California, surf culture, and girls and boys having fun in the sun. From the start, it was Brian Wilson who was mainly responsible for writing the group’s hits and arranging its distinctive sound.
In 1962, the Beach Boys signed with the west coast entertainment powerhouse Capitol Records as Capitol’s first rock group after their first single “Surfin’” did well regionally. Their first album with Capitol was Surfin’ Safari, which peaked at number 32 on the U.S. charts. Less than 6 months later, a second album Surfin’ USA was released which climbed all the way to number 2 on the charts.
The success of the two first albums allowed Brian Wilson to assert a level of control over the creative process that had previously been unheard of. He was able to be the writer, arranger, and producer on their third album Surfer Girl, which reached number 7 on the charts. This was followed less than a month later by Little Deuce Coupe, which hit number 4 on the charts and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Between 1964 and 1965 the band released no less than 6 albums that charted as high as number 2.
Beach Boys Reach New Levels with Pet Sounds in 1966
It was also in 1964 that Brian stepped away from the band and touring for health reasons to focus on the music. The result was the album Pet Sounds released in May 1966, which is often considered to be the group’s best album with the most significant impact. It has been ranked number 2 on the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone. Due to the unique arrangement with Capitol, Brian was still the arranger for the music resulting in some of the most complex and avant garde melodies in songs such as “God Only Knows” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”.
Pet Sounds has been rumored to be the inspiration for the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Paul McCartney told BBC Radio 1 in 2007, “‘God Only Knows’ is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It’s really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian [Wilson]. I’ve actually performed it with him and I’m afraid to say that during the sound check I broke down.”
Brian Wilson continued spinning hits with Good Vibrations in October 1966 that went to number 1 on the charts. However, the magic was beginning to fade as Brian dealt with additional health problems that isolated him from the rest of the band and slowed down their releases. The next album, Smiley Smile, released in September 1967 only reached 41 on the charts. Another album, Wild Honey, was released in December 1967 and did somewhat better, but the next album, Friends, released in June 1968 only made it to number 126 in the U.S.
Dennis and “Charlie” Collaborate on a Song
Dennis Wilson, the second of the three Wilson brothers, was not a willing participant in the family singing tradition before the band started. The boys’ mother had to force older brother Brian to include Dennis in the group, but eventually Dennis learned the drums and urged Brian to write the group’s first song “Surfin’” since Dennis was the surfer of the family.
While Dennis started as the band’s drummer he evolved into a songwriter in his own right in the later 1960s including the song “Little Bird,” which was released as a B-Side of “Friends” in June 1968.
It was also in 1968 that Dennis’s path crossed with Charles Manson, known to friends and followers simply as “Charlie”. It started in April 1968 when Dennis picked up two female hitchhikers – Patricia Krenwinkel and Ella Jo Bailey – in Malibu. He drove them to their destination, but then saw them hitchhiking again less than a week later and this time, took them to his home on Sunset Boulevard. It was a decision that would have momentous consequences not only for Dennis but for many, many others.
Over milk and cookies, Dennis told the girls how he was a follower of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and in return, the girls told Dennis about their guru, “Charlie”.. Dennis left the house later that day for a recording session, but he allowed the girls to stay at the house while he was gone. When he returned home later that evening around 3am, a beat-up school bus was out front, the house was ablaze with lights, and scruffy looking man – Charles Manson – appeared on his driveway.
Dennis thought Manson was a vagrant or someone who was there to rob him. Instead, Manson approached him, knelt, and kissed Dennis’s feet before inviting him into his own home. Inside, there were a dozen members of the Manson family, the Beatles were belting out of the sound system, and Dennis was officially caught up in Manson’s web.
Charles Manson had musical ambitions from the very start and saw Dennis Wilson as a way to realize those dreams. It was through Dennis that Manson met Terry Melcher, son of Doris Day, and a producer for the British band the Byrds, who at the time was renting and living at10050 Cielo Drive with Candice Bergen.
He also introduced Manson to the rest of the Wilson clan resulting in Manson recording songs at Brian Wilson’s home studio. Melcher and Dennis were involved in this process according to the Beach Boys’ engineer who claimed that the recordings were done for Dennis and Melcher. Even at this auspicious moment in Manson’s budding musical career, his temper got the better of him: he had a disagreement with producers associated with Wilson and drew a knife on them.
Why The Beach Boys Rejected Charles Manson’s Music Aspirations
Dennis was intrigued by Manson and thrilled to have the family in his home taking care of the home, cooking, and generally catering to his needs. In an interview with Record Mirror in late 1968, Dennis reported that Manson had great musical ideas and that they were writing together. Dennis referred to Manson as “the Wizard” and they spent hours talking about religion, how parents ruin their children, and the philosophy of good and evil. Without a hint of irony or understanding of the quagmire that he was sinking into, Dennis told a magazine that Manson was his friend “who says he is God and the devil”.
It should not be surprising, then, that he introduced the rest of the band and their friends to Manson and his family. Whether the Wilson family or the other members of the band recognized at the time that Manson was a grifter and hustler who saw Dennis as the perfect mark is unknown. In his 2016 memoir Good Vibrations, Mike Love saw the situation for what it was, but whether he said anything at the time is unclear. While none of the other Wilsons took the bait and even called Manson a “scruffy little guru”, Dennis ultimately was left to his own devices in managing his new friend.
By the end of the summer of 1968, the Manson family had taken over Dennis’s home and his possessions. They had destroyed his Ferrari and drove his uninsured $21,000 Mercedes into a mountain near Spahn Ranch, where other family members had been living since April 1968. As the summer wore on, Dennis began to be fearful of his new friends and actually moved out of the house to get away from them leaving the job of evicting the family to his manager. The Manson family left Dennis’s home in August 1968 and joined their compatriots at Spahn Ranch.
The Beach Boys Release “Never Learn Not to Love” with No Song Writing Credit for Manson
Perhaps as an act of revenge for the $100,000 (the equivalent of $930,000 today) that Dennis claims the Manson family cost him during that summer, Dennis recorded a song at least partially written by Manson in September 1968 and released it as a Beach Boys B-side in December 1968, giving only himself writing credit. Not only did Dennis take sole credit for the song, he also changed the title from “Cease to Exist” to “Never Learn Not to Love”. The Beach Boys even performed the song on the “Mike Douglas Show” in 1969.
In 1968 and 1969, it was not a secret then that Charles Manson had been involved in writing the song. When asked why Manson was not credited, Dennis explained that Manson had given up his rights to the song in return for either cash and a motorcycle or approximately $100,000 worth of items, depending upon the account.
Manson was reportedly furious at being cut out of the publicity, and possibly royalties, from the song that he had created. However, rather than seeking legal advice about how to go after Dennis Wilson for possible copyright infringement, Manson is rumored to have either showed Dennis a bullet or left one for him, telling him “I know where you live. I know where your children are.”
As Manson intended, Dennis became terrified of him and the family. Dennis even refused to testify against Manson or his followers during the Tate / LaBianca trial and only reluctantly spoke about his experiences with Manson to the prosecutor, Victor Bugliosi. He took his knowledge to the grave in 1983.
It Wasn’t Just The Beach Boys — Other Celebrities Fell Under Manson’s Aura
Dennis was not the only celebrity who fell under Manson’s spell. Angela Lansbury’s daughter Deidre Shaw knew Manson and allowed him to use her parents’ credit cards to buy things for the family. Manson dropped her once the credit cards were cancelled. Lansbury, however, was so concerned about this and issues that she moved the family to Ireland.
Neil Young also entertained Manson’s musical aspirations and introduced his work to Mo Ostin, a record executive who was not impressed. Manson also attempted to lure Deana Martin, daughter of Dean Martin, into the family and offered her a ring. She kept the ring, but declined the invitation to the family. She ended up testifying for the prosecution at trial of Tex Watson, one of the Tate killers.
The Devil and a Mistaken Address Lead to Unspeakable Tragedy
While Manson was enraged at Dennis and his duplicity, Manson focused most of his ire on Terry Melcher the record producer because it was Melcher who denied him the one thing he really wanted: a recording contract.
In the summer of 1969, Melcher finally told Manson that he was not getting a record deal. Manson reacted to this set back by initiating Helter Skelter in early August 1969 with the opening target being the (previous) home of Terry Melcher at 10500 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon resulting in the deaths of Sharon Tate and five others known as the “Tate Murders.”
Manson knew the house at 10500 Cielo Drive. On the day Melcher first met Manson at Dennis’s house in 1968, Dennis drove Melcher home to 10500 Cielo Drive with Manson in the back seat. Later in 1968, Manson visited Melcher there and once.
Melcher moved out of the house in January 1969 and Roman Polanski and his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate moved in having rented the house from the owner Rudy Altobelli starting in February 1969. Manson knew that Melcher had left 10500 Cielo Drive before August 1969 according to Tex Watson and Mark Lindsay. Indeed, the family found Melcher at his new home in Malibu as they left a note on his porch.
However, Manson still visited 10500 Cielo Drive between February and August 1969 even meeting Sharon Tate there claiming that he was looking for Terry Melcher. This could indicate that Manson did not believe that Melcher had left entirely or that Manson thought Melcher was trying to put Manson off his trail.
Susan Atkins, one of the Tate killers, testified to a grand jury in 1970 that they had chosen the house on Cielo Drive to “instill fear into Terry Melcher because Terry had given us his word on a few things and never came through with them.”
Legal Take Aways from The Beach Boys’ Encounter with Charles Manson
Legal Takeaway: Contracts Alone Aren’t Enough
This bizarre episode shows that even the most carefully drafted contract cannot protect you from choosing the wrong partners. While no formal agreements between Manson, Dennis Wilson, or The Beach Boys exist, the caution is clear: contracts safeguard rights, but intuition and judgment safeguard your future. Intuition, while not a classic legal tool, is often a far better risk reducing step in contractual negotiations. In my career, I have never regretted following my intuition and on the few occasions I didn’t follow it, I have regretted 100% of those situations. The history of the Manson-Beach Boys encounter, in particular the members of the Beach Boys that did not want to get involved with Manson, is a strong example of where intuition appears to have averted a horrifying disaster.
Legal Takeaway: Did Manson Have Any Rights to The Beach Boys’ Song “Never Learn Not to Love”?
Another legal question posed by the brief Wilson-Manson relationship is what copyrights, if any, Manson would have to the song “Never Learn Not to Love,” based on Manson’s song lyrics for “Cease to Exist.” Dennis Wilson refused to discuss the Manson family after the 1969 murders, so it is not clear what if anything he ever promised Charles Manson in terms of a record deal or what he could even promise him. Yet, Manson still likely expected Wilson to get him a record deal, most likely with Terry Melcher.
Because these songs were written in 1969, they were subject to the Copyright Act of 1909 which had a very different framework for copyright protection. Under the 1909 Copyright Act, protection would only attach when the works were published and had a notice of copyright affixed. Considering that the Wilsons were probably quite savvy by this time regarding copyright protection, it is probably safe to assume that they met these requirements. Indeed, it is possible that Manson could have had a potential claim like Beach Boy Mike Love for back and future royalties with songwriting credit. But instead of litigating, he chose the path of violence.
If the current Copyright Act applied to this situation, the ownership issues may be different. Under the current act, a copyrighted work comes into existence when affixed into a tangible medium. If you assume that Manson wrote the lyrics to “Cease to Exist” by himself and put them on paper—or some other medium— he would likely be considered the author and owner of the copyrights in the lyrics. If you further assume that Dennis Wilson created “Never Learn Not to Love” based in part on the lyrics of “Cease to Exist,” then “Never Learn Not to Love” would likely be considered a derivative work of “Cease to Exist.” Based on statements that Manson “gave up” his rights in the lyrics, it appears that, if he had copyrights, he may have intended to transfer them to Wilson and/or The Beach Boys. Under the current Copyright Act, an assignment of copyrights is generally required to be in writing. So ultimately the copyright results from the Wilson-Manson collaboration could turn out differently under the current copyright statute versus the 1909 Act
Final Thoughts on The Beach Boys and Manson and IP Law
The strange entanglement between The Beach Boys and Charles Manson is more than a chilling chapter of music history — it’s a cautionary tale about law, trust, and risk.
From a legal standpoint, a dispute over “Cease to Exist” versus “Never Learn Not to Love” would raise enduring questions about copyright ownership, songwriting credits, and whether promises without contracts can ever be enforced. From a practical standpoint, it underscores a truth that still applies today: even the strongest contract cannot protect you from ignoring red flags.
For modern creatives, entrepreneurs, and business leaders, the takeaways are clear:
Always document agreements in writing before anything is created or worked on.
Protect your intellectual property with proper and timely copyright registration.
And perhaps most importantly — trust your intuition when entering deals.
The Beach Boys’ brush with Charles Manson reminds us that contracts may safeguard your rights, but wisdom and caution safeguard your future.
What do you think? Should Dennis Wilson have credited Manson as a songwriter, or was he justified in taking sole credit?
Note – This article is based on research and secondary sources of events that transpired nearly four decades ago. No representations are made as to the truth or accuracy of the historical research included in this post.
FAQs: The Beach Boys, Charles Manson, and IP Law
What legal lessons can creatives and entrepreneurs learn from this story?
Always put agreements in writing, especially for intellectual property.
Register creative works with proper copyright protection.
Trust your intuition in business relationships — contracts can’t shield you from every risk.
Did Charles Manson really write a Beach Boys song?
Yes, at least in part. Manson wrote a song titled “Cease to Exist,” which Dennis Wilson appears to have reworked into “Never Learn Not to Love.” Wilson altered the lyrics, took sole credit, and released it as a Beach Boys track in 1968.
Why didn’t Charles Manson receive songwriting credit?
Accounts differ. Wilson said Manson traded away his rights in exchange for cash, a motorcycle, or other items. Legally, under the 1909 Copyright Act, rights only attached with proper publication and copyright notice — which the Wilsons likely secured.
Could Charles Manson have sued The Beach Boys for copyright infringement?
Possibly. He might have had a claim for songwriting credit or royalties, similar to later disputes in the band (such as Mike Love’s royalty claims). But instead of pursuing litigation, Manson responded with threats and violence.
What is the significance of this story for contract law today?
The Beach Boys–Manson encounter shows that contracts, copyrights, and music rights disputes aren’t just theoretical. They have real financial and personal consequences. It remains a striking case study in entertainment law and the risks of informal deals.
Klemchuk PLLC is a leading IP law firm based in Dallas, Texas, focusing on litigation, anti-counterfeiting, trademarks, patents, and business law. Our experienced attorneys assist clients in safeguarding innovation and expanding market share through strategic investments in intellectual property.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance on specific legal matters under federal, state, or local laws, please consult with our IP Lawyers.
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