Foremost among these was the court case, in New York, for a long-running plagiarism suit launched against him by music publisher Bright Tunes, who contended that Harrison had infringed on their copyright of the Chiffons' song "He's So Fine" in his 1970–71 hit single " My Sweet Lord". Harrison spent the early part of 1976 involved in activities other than music-making. In addition to other Dark Horse artistes, the contract called for four solo albums from Harrison, the first of which was due by 26 July 1976, following the expiration of the Beatles' recording contract with EMI in January that year. In May 1974, George Harrison signed a five-year distribution agreement for Dark Horse Records with A&M Records. The album was remastered in 2004 as part of The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992 reissues following Harrison's death in 2001. Among the latter was a live performance with singer-songwriter Paul Simon on NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live. Harrison undertook extensive promotion for the album, which included producing comedy-themed video clips for three of the songs, two of which were directed by Monty Python member Eric Idle, and making a number of radio and television appearances. Other musicians on the recording include Billy Preston, Gary Wright, Willie Weeks, [David Foster and Alvin Taylor. Harrison recorded Thirty Three & 1/3 at his Friar Park home studio, with production assistance from Tom Scott. Despite the problems associated with the album, many music critics recognised Thirty Three & 1/3 as a return to form for Harrison after his poorly received work during 1974–75, and considered it his strongest collection of songs since 1970's acclaimed All Things Must Pass. The album contains the hit singles "This Song" – Harrison's satire on that court case and the notion of plagiarism in pop music – and "Crackerbox Palace". Among other misfortunes affecting its creation, Harrison was waylaid with hepatitis midway through recording, and the copyright infringement suit regarding his 1970–71 hit song " My Sweet Lord" was decided in favour of the plaintiff, Bright Tunes Music.
as a result of his late delivery of the album's master tapes. It was Harrison's first album release on his Dark Horse record label, the worldwide distribution for which changed from A&M Records to Warner Bros. Thirty Three & 1/3 (stylised as Thirty Three & 1/ॐ on the album cover) is the seventh studio album by English musician George Harrison, released in November 1976.