The Litigation, The lawsuit Options

[Sunderer]

I haven't posted here in a long time (if ever).

At the risk of duplicating a topic, you can access the litigation between the other members and Ed. (We lawyers find these things).

I do not believe I am allowed to link to the direct site, but the lawsuit is filed in the State Supreme Court in New York. Your GoogleFoo skillz should get you there!

Their records are free so long as you agree to the terms. You can view the various pleadings.

Then you can say you are PRIVY to something !

[dangum]

Hi and welcome to the forum. We had a lengthy discussion on the lawsuit about a year ago. From what I can recall a lawsuit was submitted by Chad Taylor, Chad Gracey and Pat Dahlheimer against Ed and his manager. You can read about it here:

Ed's Bootlegs (inc. Supreme Court summons), not so legal after all?

I believe Ed responded to their accusations but that's about as far as we got. Has something more occurred since then?

[Sunderer]

Sorry about duplication.

The complaint was two-fold: (1) failure to pay $300,000 (he apparently paid $75,000 on an advance); and (2) the bootleg.

There is absolutely nothing since August of last year. Now discovery in civil cases is conducted outside the purview of the court (unless a discovery dispute arises). So you might not hear about discovery.

BUT, a year is a LONG time without hearing anything. No trial settings requested, no hearings requested, nothing.

Perhaps New York dockets are ten times worse than where I practice (Texas), but a year with nothing reported on the docket is CRAZY.

I previously offered (probably on FB) to mediate this dispute. This mediation would occur in Vegas. I would NOT charge for travel or hotel, as I can get those - just my time during the mediation. And since I'm a specialized divorce attorney, this dispute is right up my alley. Just another breakup. Unfortunately, the "parents" left millions of heart-broken "kids" in this case.

And to digress on to other topics ... I don't care if you make Jesus Christ the lead singer of your new re-tooled band, it WON'T WORK 9 times out of 10. Ask Fuel (Brett had that cool voice). Ask Creed (and they lost their mo). Heck, even Journey stinks after all these years. [Van Halen is the one and only exception].

LIVE needs to start over. They need to write a new agreement. If Ed is doing 99% of the writing as he claims, then re-tool the '05 Agreement. Write an agreement where Ed can work on solo projects as well (it seemed to work for Sting and the Police).

But I turn 50 in March, and I'm planning on spending my birthday making extremely poor choices in Vegas. As least SOME good could come out of my trip.

[dangum]

BUT, a year is a LONG time without hearing anything. No trial settings requested, no hearings requested, nothing.

Is there a statute of limitations for this sort of case?

What's your opinion on the bootleg CDs that Ed's selling on his site? Ed would need to make some sort of payment to the rest of the band for any income he receives from them, right?

[mfitz804]

Is there a statute of limitations for this sort of case?

What's your opinion on the bootleg CDs that Ed's selling on his site? Ed would need to make some sort of payment to the rest of the band for any income he receives from them, right?

Statutes of limitations don't apply AFTER a lawsuit has been filed; the SOL is your deadline for filing, not resolving, the matter. Once the case is filed, it can take a long, long time depending how aggressively it is pursued by the two sides.

The case does not appear on the Supreme Court's online information system (http://www.courts.state.ny.us). This means that although the lawsuit has been filed, neither party has requested that the matter be assigned to a judge by filing a Request for Judicial Intervention. This usually happens when someone wants to file a lawsuit to protect their right to sue (like before the Statute of Limitations expires), but they don't necessarily want to pursue the case at the moment.

Unless and until someone files and RJI and/or makes a motion to dismiss the case, it will just sit there. So it appears neither side is too anxious to get involved in the litigation aspect of the dispute.

Copyright on recorded music exists on two levels: performance and publishing. Its Ed's performance, but to the extent CCP contributed to the writing of the songs and own a piece of the publishing, then yes he should be paying them.

[Aitkens]

Just a heads up, Mark, Scott, and Brian left Scott and formed Alter Bridge with Myles Kennedy and it was much, much better music.

[mfitz804]

Just a heads up, Mark, Scott, and Brian left Scott and formed Alter Bridge with Myles Kennedy and it was much, much better music.

Agreed. I enjoyed Alter Bridge way more than I did Creed. Not sure where this fits into the present thread but still.

[Bremang]

BUT, a year is a LONG time without hearing anything...

....a year with nothing reported on the docket is CRAZY.

It seems incredibly suspicious. Is it reasonable to imagine that CCP's claims were made in bad faith?

Many people here have read the docket. Would you say that someone could find more information by actually visiting the court records building? I am curious as to what the Stipulation is about.

As far as what you said about "privy", I was saying that based on what the docket provides, we have no way to determine whether Ed was in breach of any contract.

CCP are also saying Ed owes them money from entering into a contract that gave him a million dollar signing bonus, not just royalties from the website. I wonder if anyone actually bought that crappy live audio from his website.

This post has been edited by Bremang: Oct 3 2011, 1:27 pm

[Bremang]

Is there a statute of limitations for this sort of case?

I tried going over the New York Rules of Civ Pro almost a year ago....but honestly, I don't think I was inclined to understand the rules at the time. But I couldn't find anything specifically prescribed as far as time limits once an action begins.

[SecretInsomnia]

It worked for Genesis as well?!

(not that I - and maybe many - ever heard of 'em before Collins was singing)

[mfitz804]

I tried going over the New York Rules of Civ Pro almost a year ago....but honestly, I don't think I was inclined to understand the rules at the time. But I couldn't find anything specifically prescribed as far as time limits once an action begins.

After an action is filed, the Court will set a "Standards and Goals" date, which is a date by which they would like the matter to be resolved, at some point. If there is no action in the case after one year, the Defendant could make a motion to dismiss the case as being abandoned, but it doesn't happen automatically, they actually have to make that effort. And the usual response to that would be the wheels start turning again rather than an actual dismissal.

So no, there technically is no time limit once its filed. The discovery process in a New York Supreme Court case can easily take over a year, or three, or five depending on its complexity.

Also, discovery documents and depositions are NOT filed with the Court in New York, so the fact that no additional documents have appeared on that website means nothing. You could have three years worth of discovery without action on the docket, other that Orders of the Court.

The fact that no RJI has been filed, as I stated above, is the interesting part to me. This means that there is no assigned judge, no discovery schedule, basically its in limbo until someone acts. And neither side is acting.

The Stipulation that is referred to was probably to permit extra time for the Defendants to answer, which is a common Stipulation that is made in nearly every case.

[mfitz804]

It seems incredibly suspicious. Is it reasonable to imagine that CCP's claims were made in bad faith?

If the claims were truly in bad faith, one would think that Ed and his people would have made a motion to dismiss rather than just allowing the matter to linger on the Court's docket, unpursued.

[Bremang]

Copyright on recorded music exists on two levels: performance and publishing. Its Ed's performance, but to the extent CCP contributed to the writing of the songs and own a piece of the publishing, then yes he should be paying them.

Can we know for sure this before discovery?

[Bremang]

After an action is filed, the Court will set a "Standards and Goals" date, which is a date by which they would like the matter to be resolved, at some point. If there is no action in the case after one year, the Defendant could make a motion to dismiss the case as being abandoned, but it doesn't happen automatically, they actually have to make that effort. And the usual response to that would be the wheels start turning again rather than an actual dismissal.

So no, there technically is no time limit once its filed. The discovery process in a New York Supreme Court case can easily take over a year, or three, or five depending on its complexity.

Also, discovery documents and depositions are NOT filed with the Court in New York, so the fact that no additional documents have appeared on that website means nothing. You could have three years worth of discovery without action on the docket, other that Orders of the Court.

The fact that no RJI has been filed, as I stated above, is the interesting part to me. This means that there is no assigned judge, no discovery schedule, basically its in limbo until someone acts. And neither side is acting.

The Stipulation that is referred to was probably to permit extra time for the Defendants to answer, which is a common Stipulation that is made in nearly every case.

Thank you...

Do you believe that CCP made this claim in good faith? Or that they changed their minds? Is it typical for discovery items and depositions to not be on the docket in other courts?

[mfitz804]

Can we know for sure this before discovery?

The principle is one of law...if they are in on the publishing, they are in on the copyright and hence the money. I don't think anyone has denied that they each had a 25% interest in the publishing.

So no, I don't think discovery is necessary to know this.