BY MIKEY MIGO
It seems that just about every week there's at least one or two lawsuits popping up in the 411Music News section. Be it a label suing its fans for downloading, band members fighting like babies, hacks claiming other hacks stole their hacky music, or just random nonsense that wastes our time. Then again, I'm sure we're ALL thinking "Oh no, Joe-Shmoe Rockstar got sued and now only has ten million in the bank as opposed to eleven."
Okay, probably not. If anything, these lawsuits result in the obligatory eye roll, sigh, or in some rare cases repulsion. So today I'm going to take a look at some of the more current lawsuits. The research and time needed to go back to the "Fogerty sued for plagiarizing himself" nonsense would push my social life out of the "sorta recluse" and well into the "living in a shack in Montana" category. So without any throwing anymore hyperbole out your way, lets get into it.
"Marilyn Manson vs. Madonna Wayne Gacy"
The angle we're looking at with this one is Manson's countersuit against Gacy. Gacy sued Manson for 20 Million dollars because he claims Manson stiffed him on salary, medical support, and a hanky to dry up his tears.
Judge MiGo's Verdict: Gacy (real name Stephen Bier) is lame. We won't give it up. Back when Manson was first coming up, Bier would be late for everything and be a human leak. He gave away so much info to the press and anyone who would give him attention. Then he goes on to talk about Manson's lavish lifestyle and all the random bizarre things he's spend his money on. That's the key to this, "HIS MONEY". You don't hear Twiggy (Jeordie White), John 5, Ginger Fish, or ANYONE ELSE making these claims about Manson. That's proof right that there that Bier was at fault here. He didn't live up to his end of the bargain; it'd be stupid if Marilyn did his.
" Syl Johnson vs. Michael Jackson, Will Smith and Tupac Shakur"
Blues musician Syl Johnson filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against three of the most known artists of all time. First of all, I had a "blues period" awhile back and I have no idea who this guy is. Second of all, he's not just claiming these iconic artists stole his music, but they all stole THE SAME SONG. Then the story gets a little crazier as he also filed papers against N.W.A. AND KRS-One.
Judge MiGo's Verdict: For all I know Syl Johnson is a legend. He has worked with Magic Sam, Junior Wells, and Jimmy Reed so he MIGHT have some credibility. But the whole fact that this 71 year old man is just now coming to surface to sue these very famous musicians. It seems a bit suspicious. You'd think that even if he hadn't, others around him from THE MUSIC BUSINESS would have heard the said song in these tracks. Instead, he waits ten, fifteen, twenty, and even MORE years to call these supposed thieves out on snatching his work. It seems a bit frivolous to me.
"U2 vs. The Memorabilia Collecting Stylist"
To keep it simple, Lola Cashman is a stylist. She was being accused of stealing Bono's clothes from the Joshua Tree tour in 1987. Bono sued to get this stuff back and won.
Judge MiGo's Verdict: Memorabilia from the Joshua Tree? That was a GREAT album and time for U2 and if you don't have that album go get it right now. But the truth of the matter is who cares about a pair of metal earrings, green sweatshirt, and black pants? The reports don't say anything about her trying to sell them or make money off Bono's swag. Sure it's a little creepy that she took his personal items, but c'mon. Let it go and move on. Let her keep the stuff, get her to make a donation she can afford to a charity, and don't be so petty.
"Travis Barker vs. Rockstar Energy Drink"
Apparently Rockstar put a picture of Barker on their website with him drinking one of their energy drinks. They even went as far as saying he endorses them, but this was all done without his consent. The lawsuit goes as far as claiming the tattooed third wheel of Blink 182 is a "prominent figure in the rock music world". That's actually true if we all jump into a phone booth and get Rufus' permission to go back to 1998.
Judge MiGo's Verdict: Who cares? You obviously drink their product so why not enjoy the free press. I've seen Barker's reality show and have seen him pop up with random appearances anywhere that's looking for that extra dose of "coolness" via booking a "prominent figure in the rock music world". They're giving him promotion, yet he's twisting it to get MORE promotion and a few bucks out of it. LAME.
"Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. Showtime"
The Peppers put out a song and album called "Californication" in 1999. This past year the Showtime channel put out a new show called "Californication". The Peppers feel the title is being stolen from them.
Judge MiGo's Verdict:I've seen a few episodes of this show at a friends house recently. There is no connection to the band and this show outside of the title. Apparently "Californication" is a term that's been used before 1999, but they made it famous with a great album. Still, they don't OWN the term. There are SO MANY television shows and movies with song titles as the name. These films and shows are not taking anything or any money away from the musician who used the same title. If anything it only helps. If an unknowing Showtime viewer went on to google search "Californication" they'd be exposed to one of the best albums of the late 90's. Tom Petty didn't sue them for completely ripping off his song, so they should leave Showtime alone.
That's just five different lawsuits that we've been entertained with recently.
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