IRON MAIDEN - The Book Of Souls (4 septembre)

IRON MAIDEN has settled a lawsuit over the writing credits for the band's classic song "Hallowed Be Thy Name".

A year ago, retired rock band manager Barry McKay took MAIDEN's Steve Harris and Dave Murray to court over the 1982 track, claiming reproduced major parts of another song, "Life's Shadow", co-written nearly a decade earlier by musician Brian Quinn, under the name Brian Ingham.

"Life's Shadow" was a collaboration between Quinn and Robert Barton, who later recorded the song for the self-titled 1974 album from his band BECKETT. At the time, BECKETT was managed by Rod Smallwood, who went on to become the manager of IRON MAIDEN.

In court documents, Harris's lawyers admitted he saw BECKETT perform in 1973 and said that BECKETT's debut was one of his favorite albums when it was first released.

Although McKay has said that Harris and Murray have been ordered to pay £900,000 (approximately $1.25 million) in costs and damages, a spokesperson for IRON MAIDEN told BLABBERMOUTH.NET that the actual figure was much lower.

"We do not believe that Brian Quinn was the one who wrote these six lines in question over 40 years ago as was claimed by Barry McKay," the MAIDEN spokesperson said. "However, due to escalating legal fees and the potential huge costs of a court case, it was pragmatic to reluctantly settle this action with McKay for £100,000 [approximately $139,000], a fraction of what he brought the action for. A serial litigant like Mr. McKay would have foreseen this."

In response to MAIDEN's statement, McKay said: "To call me a 'serial litigant' is sour grapes. Harris and Murray and their managers appear to me to be bad losers. However, I am now also representing three other songwriters who also allege that Steve Harris and Dave Murray have profiteered from lyrics that they wrote. If that makes me a 'serial litigant,' so be it. Musicians who have their intellectual property exploited by others who did not write or compose it are entitled to professional assistance."

MAIDEN last year dropped "Hallowed Be Thy Name" from its setlist after the band became embroiled in the legal dispute. The settlement means that the group can now resume performing the song during its live shows.

MAIDEN's representatives at Phantom Management issued a statement last year in which they acknowledged that "Steve Harris was a fan of BECKETT and some six lines from 'Life's Shadow' were referenced in Steve's song 'Hallowed Be Thy Name'." However, they insisted at the time that as far as Steve was concerned, "this matter was settled some years ago by agreement with Robert Barton."

SPOILER ALERT:

Pietro a écrit:La tournée Legacy Of The Beast a débuté !

eudus a écrit:Du coup c'est devenu un topic général à Iron?

Willcock claims to have written the words to the tracks "Prowler", "Charlotte The Harlot", "Phantom Of The Opera", "Iron Maiden" and "Prodigal Son", which were recorded and released by MAIDEN on their first two albums, 1980's self-titled effort and 1981's "Killers".

According to the lawsuit, "Prowler" "was inspired by a friend of Mr. Willcock and was performed by Mr. Willcock wearing a rubber mask"; "Charlotte The Harlot" "was inspired by a colleague of Mr. Willcock"; and "Phantom Of The Opera" "was based on the novel by Gaston Le Roux". The lawsuit adds that IRON MAIDEN performed a song called "Iron Maiden" "at the time when Mr. Willcock joined the band. In substitution for the then-existing lyrics, Mr. Willcock wrote new lyrics to fit in with a theatrical stunt involving a sword and fake blood." Willcock also claims that he co-wrote — with IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris — the lyrics to a song called "Prodigal Son" "in or about 1978."

Also suing IRON MAIDEN is musician Terry Wilson-Slesser, who claims his lyrics for BECKETT's 1974 song "A Rainbow's Gold" were lifted by MAIDEN for 1982's "Hallowed Be Thy Name".

Willcock, who fronted MAIDEN from 1976 to 1978, was replaced in the band by Paul Di'Anno. He claims never knew his lyrics were used because he never listened to the band's albums.      

The lawsuit, which names as defendants IRON MAIDEN members Steve Harris and Dave Murray, along with their publishing company Imagem, seeks damages in excess of £2 million (approximately $2.64 million).

Willcock was MAIDEN's second singer. The band's original vocalist, Paul Day, co-founded the group in 1976 along with Harris.

An IRON MAIDEN spokesperson told The Sun: "This is outrageous. Absolutely ridiculous."

Willcock claims to have written the words to the tracks "Prowler", "Charlotte The Harlot", "Phantom Of The Opera", "Iron Maiden" and "Prodigal Son", which were recorded and released by MAIDEN on their first two albums, 1980's self-titled effort and 1981's "Killers".

In a formal written response to Willcock's legal action, IRON MAIDEN claims bassist Steve Harris, not Willcock, actually penned the lyrics in question. In addition, the band admits the songwriting credit on "Charlotte The Harlot" is wrong.

Since it first appeared on MAIDEN's debut LP, the track has been solely credited to guitarist Dave Murray. But in the documents served to the High Court, Harris and publisher Imagem state: "The lyrics for [the song] were written by Mr Harris in or around 1977 to accompany music written by Mr Murray, who had joined IRON MAIDEN in late 1976."

IRON MAIDEN has admitted that Willcock changed three words of "Prowler" and two of "Charlotte The Harlot" but has questioned whether he can remember writing them.

The band states: "[He] was, when he was a member of IRON MAIDEN, notorious for forgetting lyrics for the band's songs, or missing out words, or singing the wrong words. He… even had to sing from lyric sheets at live performances. Accordingly it is implausible that Mr Willcock can now remember lyrics he allegedly wrote some 40 years ago."