Court rules contract the Ronettes signed with Spector in 1963 still binding:

a New York state appeals court ... has tossed a $3 million verdict the Ronettes won in a lawsuit battle with famed producer Phil Spector.

The '60s girl group, responsible for such oldies-radio classics as "By My Baby" and "Walking in the Rain," had claimed Spector cheated the three members out of royalties and license fees involving their hit tunes.

A five-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals said it was "sympathetic" with the "plight" of lead singer Ronnie Greenfield (aka Ronnie Spector, ex-missus of Phil), sister Estelle Bennett and cousin Nedra Talley Ross.

...."The best evidence of what parties to a written agreement intend is what they say in their writing," wrote Judge Victoria Graffeo in the opinion, which essentially puts an end to a bitter 14-year legal dispute between the performers and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame producer who masterminded their sound.

"The court is sending a clear signal that we're a system of law that regards contracts as things that have to be followed," Spector's lawyer, Andrew Bart, told the New York Daily News.

The group had sued Spector back in 1988, claiming he made a fortune by selling "Be My Baby" to the producers of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, as well as the group's other staples for use in Levi jeans and American Express ads. A lower-court jury eventually agreed, awarding the $3 million prize. Spector appealed and won.

However, it wasn't a total defeat for the songbirds. The panel sent the case back to a lower court to refigure how much royalties the Ronettes are due in terms of rights to compilations and reissues of their songs. The judgment could still result in the Ronettes getting a "reasonable sum of money," says the group's lawyer, Ira Greenberg, though it won't be anywhere near the $3 million they just lost.

"It's being sent to the lower court to recalculate damages," said Greenberg. "It remains to be seen how that's going to come out."

Spector paid out a onetime lump payment of $14,482 to the group when they signed the contract.

As it stands now, the Ronettes probably won't get too much more, as their royalties are fixed at 3 percent, a far cry from the 50 percent artists typically make on reissued tunes recorded in the early 1960s.

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