I'd have to take a look at the product in question to see what intellectual property is being disputed to form an opinion as to whether this is fair or not. Do you have a link to more information about this case? Is it in the UK or the US?

On the general topic of academic research, scholars do a heck of a lot of work that they can't earn any income from. It is part of the requirement to gain or maintain tenure in university teaching positions. If one has managed to do so, my inclination is to say "more power to him." I wouldn't imagine his royalty is very large, not to the point of restricting future publications/recordings of such work.

SRS