Stereosonic founder’s bitter court battle

Veteran music promoter, Richie McNeill, feared a stalker would hunt him down at his home triggering a bitter feud with his architect and friend over breach of contract.

A David and Goliath battle has erupted between a small Melbourne architecture firm and veteran music promoter Richie McNeill. Picture: David Crosling

A veteran music promoter feared a female stalker would hunt him down at his Toorak mansion, triggering a bitter feud now playing out in court.

Richie McNeill, who founded the hugely popular Stereosonic music festival and once worked for late music producer Michael Gudinski, is being sued for more than $66,000 by his ex-pal, Nicholas Ruljancich.

Mr Ruljancich, an architect, claims his old mate breached a contract when he refused to let him inside the home, on one of Melbourne’s most luxurious streets, to take marketing photos of renovations he spent five years working on.

Richie McNeill is the director of Hardware Corporation.

The pair, who were once so close they spent Christmas together and went on holidays to the snow, faced off in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this week.

Mr McNeill told the court he refused entry to the director of Raidstudio because of privacy concerns.

He had a “pesky neighbour” and feared that an old stalker would find his house from the pictures and leave notes in his car.

“I’ve had a girl stalk me in the past,” Mr McNeill said.

“I didn’t want her knowing where I live... (and) leaving notes in my car.”

But he admitted his concerns were now redundant after the Herald Sun last year reported on the bitter court battle.

Richie McNeill did not want the stalker knowing where he lived he said. Picture: David Crosling

A work agreement between the pair, stated Mr Ruljancich’s firm Raidstudio retained copyright of the project’s design and that Mr McNeill must provide them with “reasonable access” to take the photos.

Mr McNeill claimed a phone conversation took place in May 2016 - three years before the renovations were finished - in which they agreed copyright would be assigned to the homeowner.

But Mr Ruljancich rejected the claim and said no conversation took place, with the copyright issue first raised by Mr McNeill in September 2019 after moving in.

The spat turned ugly when Mr Ruljancich visited the property on the banks of the Yarra River with a photographer in June 2019 and took pictures of the nearly completed renovations without the owner’s permission.

Follow-up phone calls requesting access for additional photos were missed due to Mr McNeill’s busy work schedule, prompting Mr Ruljancich to seek legal counsel.

“We thought based on Richie’s actions he wasn’t going to let us in… We wanted to remind him of his obligations,” Mr Ruljancich said.

“We sent a letter from a lawyer because we were at a loggerhead.”

When access wasn’t granted, Mr Ruljancich had computer generated images of the house produced, costing tens of thousands of dollars. Picture: David Crosling

Mr McNeill said that he was “warming” to the idea, noting if copyright had been assigned to him further photo shoots could take place.

When access still wasn’t granted, Mr Ruljancich had computer generated images of the house produced, costing tens of thousands of dollars.

Attempts to resolve the dispute including formal and informal mediations had failed with defence lawyer Gautam Mukherji noting the gap between the parties was “unbridgeable”.

Mr Ruljancich is seeking a court order granting access to take the photos or alternatively forcing his former friend to pay $66,742.50 in damages and to cover the costs of the CGIs of the project.

Magistrate Tim Greenway will hand down his decision at a later date.