The finger-pointing game has begun in the wake of this year's Electric Daisy Carnival.
Although any legal repercussions in regards to the festival that took place this weekend have yet to be determined, we're keeping our eye on the whole thing -- mostly because, let's face it, music and legal action are frequent bedfellows.
The biggest music lawsuit saw far this year? It involves Eminem's song "Lose Yourself," and the Chrysler corporation using it for commercials. Audi's new commercials, turns out, feature a strikingly similar song -- and Em's people have decided to duke the whole matter out in court.
Lawsuits just happen -- perhaps more than ever before in our now very litigious present. Some have merit, sure. But others are just plain frivolous. Those that gain notoriety usually do so because of size, ridiculousness or odd subject matter.
Either way, we've decided to take a look at the top 10 most interesting music lawsuits of all time. We had a lot to choose from. But these are the legal proceedings that are accompanied by the best stories.
10. Mattel v. Aqua, 1997. Aqua's hit "Barbie Girl" was all over the
radio that year, and Mattel took notice -- and offense. Claiming that the lyrics,
which describe Barbie as a "blonde bimbo," tarnished Barbie's
image and infringed upon copyright, Mattel sued. The case was promptly
dismissed, though; a judge in the case stated, no joke, "the parties are advised to
chill."
9. Slipknot v. Burger King, 2005. When Burger King released an ad
featuring a heavy metal band made up of chickens wearing masks
(dubiously dubbed "Coq Roq"), Slipknot threatened legal action -- because
they are of course the only band to ever don masks*. Burger King
responded with legal action of their own, demanding that a Miami federal
court exempt them from any lawsuits, from Slipknot or anyone else, over
the Coq Roq ad.
(* For those too dim to realize that we're kidding, we officially state
that we are, in fact, kidding. Don't sue us, please. We're writers, and
we're broke. )
8. Jackson Browne v. Ohio Republican Party, 2008. Ohio Republicans
should've seen this one coming, as Browne has famously campaigned for
left-wing political candidates for years. And yet, despite this being fairly common
knowledge, the Ohio Republican Party put out an anti-Obama television ad in
2008 that played Browne's "Running on Empty" in the background. Browne sued, of course. He also won.
7. Joe Jackson v. pretty much everyone, 2009-ongoing. Michael Jackson had barely been
buried before his estranged father began suing everyone within reach. Joe Jackson sued Dr. Conrad Murray, AEG Entertainment, Michael's estate
and probably a few more people, too. The legal proceedings were given
a collective side-eye by the world at large, due to the fact that Joe's
relationship with his son was strained at best. At press time, Joe
Jackson is himself being sued for releasing a perfume with Michael's
name on it. Will the litigious madness ever end? Probably not. Michael's life was a
circus; his death has been no different.
6. GAYNGS v. C.J. Starbuses, 2010. When indie-rock supergroup GAYNGS stopped for the night en route to their gig at Austin City Limits in
2010, they woke to find their tour bus -- and all the equipment in it --
missing. Understandably, the band freaked out, assuming that the bus
had been stolen. They were forced to cancel their ACL gig as a result. Turns out what really happened was a bizarre chain of events that began when GAYNGS were late in paying their bill to C.J. Starbuses, the company
that owned their bus. As a result, the company called their driver in the
wee hours of the morning and ordered him to drive the bus back to the
company's Nashville headquarters without notifying the band. GAYNGS, in turn,
sued -- and won a six-figure settlement.
5+. Mike Batt v. John Cage's estate, 2002. This bizarre lawsuit centers
around Cage's infamous piece "4'33", which was four minutes and
thirty-three seconds of silence. When British composer Batt released a
tribute piece called "One Minute Silence," and listed the songwriters as
"Batt/Cage," Cage's estate sued. That's right: copyright infringement
over complete silence. The most surprising part came when Batt lost --
the lawsuit was settled out of court and Batt paid a six-figure sum to
Cage's estate.
4. RIAA v. Tenenbaum, 2003-ongoing. Hey, remember Kazaa? It was kind of like
Napster's crappy cousin. We could never get it to work right, which
may have been to our benefit in the end, as the RIAA began suing individuals for
downloading songs on the site in 2003, often for six-figure sums. Most
plaintiffs, unable to obtain the legal firepower to fight the case, were
forced to settle out of court. But college student Joel Tenenbaum got the
backing of a Harvard law professor and fought the lawsuit, playing David
to the RIAA's Goliath. In 2010, the RIAA won the case in a court ruling. But Tenenbaum and team have
since appealed, promising many more years of litigation.
3. Dave Matthews Band v. Illinois Attorney General, 2004. This bizarre
lawsuit began when the band's tour bus dumped over 100 gallons of human
waste into the Chicago River as it passed through the city. A
tour boat going under the bridge occupied by the bus got a
really... err... shitty surprise as a result. The band's management paid $200,000 in
civil damages to the city and passengers on the unfortunate boat. How
many times do we have to tell you: Don't shit on the bus!
2. Bright Tunes v. Harrisongs, 1971. George Harrison's Harrisongs company was sued by Bright
Tunes Music, owners of the copyright to the Chiffons' hit, "He's So
Fine," who claimed that Harrison ripped off that song when writing his
behemoth, "My Sweet Lord." Bright Tunes won, and Harrison had to pay
out. We can't help but wonder, though, if this case would have been decided
differently today, considering examples like Lady Gaga's "Born This Way"
bearing striking similarities to Madonna's "Express Yourself".
1. John Fogerty v. John Fogerty, 1987. OK, so this suit technically pitted Creedence Clearwater Revival's
record company against John Fogerty, but this has to go down as the craziest
lawsuit in music history. When Fogerty left CCR and released his solo
album Centerfield, Fantasy Records, which owned the copyright to all CCR
songs, sued, claiming that the song "Old Man Down The Road" sounded too
much like "Run Through The Jungle," also penned by Fogerty. In
essence, Fogerty was sued for sounding too much like himself. The trial
included Fogerty taking the stand with his guitar to play each song for
the jury. Fogerty won, and in turn sued CCR's management to recoup his
legal fees; he won this case as well.
