If anybody knows how damning a handshake agreement could turn out, it's Ed Walewski. After seven years playing in The Killdares, Walewski formed Needfire, a rock band that found a decent amount of success in the surprisingly huge celtic rock circuit. He's been lucky enough to make a living playing music, which is more than most musicians can boast.
However, his livelihood is being threatened by two of his former bandmates, father and son John and Dylan Cleghorn. Walewski, whose mild manner translates nicely over the phone, is fighting back.
The Cleghorns, according to a lawsuit posted to Courthouse News on
Tuesday, left Needfire (Dylan in 2009 and John in 2010) and formed their
own band called Cleghorn. After their departure, the Cleghorns
registered the domain name Needfire.com and Edwalewski.com. Both sites
redirect users to Cleghornmusic.com, though now it appears
Edwalewski.com is dormant. Also, John Cleghorn attempted to trademark
the name Needfire four months after he left the band, and the father and
son have obtained a copyright for all of the band's recorded music,
most of which was written by Walewski.
In other words, Walewski's
lawsuit alleges that the Cleghorns stole what was rightfully his: the
name, the rights to his recordings and his business. Why someone
would do this out of anything but spite is hard to say.
The
Cleghorns have not returned our messages and Ed Walewski preferred not
to go on the record with his comments, in the interest of not hurting
any party involved.
The moral of the story, at least from
Walewski's side, is to always use a contract. Even if you're close
friends with the musicians you choose to join.