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

[OutToDry]

I've been searching for public notes on what may be happening in the courtroom, here's one of them. I suspect the selling of bootlegs on Ed's website are not legal as they appear.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/05/18/New_Complaints.htm

Rock and RollThree members of the band Live claim their former lead singer Edward Kowalczyk owes them $225,000 for music he sold on his Web site, in New York County Court.

This post has been edited by OutToDry: Jun 14 2010, 2:59 pm

[lovemachine97]

I think we can all agree there was some level of douchebaggery going on here. It is rock and roll, so it is difficult to say that, when hearing only one side, that the other side MUST be to blame. If it all occurred as stated, then I think Ed is a bit of a douchebag. I mean, the band didn't start off as, like, Eddie K and the +Live+ers, or something. Each member of the band obviously thought that every other member of the band contributed something important. Maybe that changed. Maybe the guys stopped contributing good stuff. Maybe Ed stopped letting them contribute good stuff. Maybe the guys never contributed anything in the writing process and Ed was tired of splitting the profits unfairly. Maybe Ed just assumed more and more power over the band.

Could it have been worse? Sure. Ed could have gone the Axl Rose route and called his new album +Live+. But, he didn't. He went solo. Maybe that is more ego thinking his name is important, maybe it is giving the band name it's due and respecting it as an entity.

Let's take some lessons from other bands, though. When Scott Weiland was going through his highly publicized arrests in the late '90s/early '00s, he wasn't the only member of STP with a smack habit. He was the only one getting arrested, yes, but Dean DeLeo was a big drug user as well. It was the "hypocrisy" of Dean's public statements about their "singer's drug problems" forcing delays, etc., that angered Scott Weiland. But he looked like the douchebag.

When Velvet Revolver was forced to postpone tour dates, the band let Weiland take the hits in the press. But, privately, it was Matt Sorum's relapse that delayed the tour. In fact, Slash, Duff, Matt, Scott and Slash (Kushner did not) all relapsed, creating problems. Who took the hits in the press? Weiland. Who made comments about him in the press? Sorum, who was the real reason for the delay. That would piss me, like Weiland, off.

The point is that we don't know what happened, we really don't. I reviewed a +Live+ concert from a year ago in Anaheim on this board, and it was a far cry from seeing them years ago. Ed did not interact with the other band members at all. Between songs, he went back and spoke into a mic (that was not hooked up to the PA), then came back forward and did songs. He ACTED like it was a solo show. The others seemed "meh" about even being there. That also makes it look like Ed was the problem.

But who really knows? Bands have survived with strong, asshole-ish singer personalities, like Pearl Jam, but the members he butted heads with are gone (Dave Krusen, Dave Abbruzzese) and replaced with guys he did like (Jack Irons til he left, and Matt Cameron). It was a relapse that caused Steven Tyler to act erratically, but he finally realized HE was the asshole. STP needed to take a break, and us fans NEVER thought they'd even speak to each other again, much less play together. But who called Scott to congratulate him when VR's album went number 1? Dean Deleo. Little did we know, time passed, wounds healed, and childhood friendships returned.

Hope seems lost, those we looked up to seem to be disappointing us...but we don't know what happened, and we don't know what could happen. Maybe +Live+ will triumphantly return with a critically-acclaimed new record, a la STP...ya never know...