EDDIES BEING SUED!

skyeriverwinter wrote:

People need to be kinder to this man...there are two sides to every story... I do believe he may just want a little money for his part in the creation of the song. He may be looking at Ed's success with Into The Wild and may want more than is due. Again we shouldn't beat up the man...we are not privy to all of the details...

Maybe he saw how much the ITW vinyls are going for on Ebay and wants his cut.

Shawshank wrote:

skyeriverwinter wrote:

People need to be kinder to this man...there are two sides to every story... I do believe he may just want a little money for his part in the creation of the song. He may be looking at Ed's success with Into The Wild and may want more than is due. Again we shouldn't beat up the man...we are not privy to all of the details...

Maybe he saw how much the ITW vinyls are going for on Ebay and wants his cut.

I have one...I'll send it to him for free....

So his song was re-made without his approval or even his knowledge - this seems like a legit gripe? Or did the record company own the song outright?

Hm... so he's being sued because he changed less than ten words (Oh, "Boo hoo") and because he had a bigger success with the song?

Didn't the guy who wrote the song get paid for the song in some way? It kind of sounds like he just wants more money. :?

cropduster82 wrote:

he says it degraded the integrity of the song. Be honest, did anyone hear this Gordon Peterson version before Into the Wild came out? My guess is no. I didn't. Eddie's version was played on radio stations and if anything brought royalties to Gordon Peterson. He should be happy. I don't think this lawsuit will go very far. I bet Eddie can afford better lawyers.

Sorry everyone - this was a number one song in Canada in 1989/early 1990 and it was very very heavily played on pretty much every radio station and the video (credited to Indio, which included Joni Mitchell) was played in very heavy rotation on Muchmusic. Just because Americans didn't hear it before Ed did it does not mean it did not exist.

And Ed changed the lyrics quite significantly. I love this song to death and it was/is very special to me back in the day, Ed's changes were really obvious.

Original, "Burned down and threw away the hours..."
Ed, "Bound down and threw away the hours..."

Original, "When I stayed to pillage her..."
Ed, "When I see her bitter/pin her charms..."

I understood that Gordon Peterson could not be found to ask if the lyrics could be changed. He's quite the recluse apparently.

I believe the song is about the planet, so the original words make the most sense...

So, Ed's not perfect. Big deal. But he shouldn't have changed the lyrics without permission. He'd probably freak if someone asked to use Black, and he said sure, and then the lyrics were changed. I would imagine anyone would. Do you mind if you I use the personal song most associated with you and defines you? Would it bug you if I made it better, because I think some things in Black don't make sense? Great! Thanks!

I'm sure this guy signed a contract for a certain amount of money with the record company. Thinking that I wasn't going to be a big deal he said ok and signed for a mediocre amount. after the success he is now rethinking it and wants more money. So let's sue the record company and complain about the lyrics.

People do this all the time. No one ever honors a contract anymore. I'm sure this guys lawyers got him started with this and they'll squeeze every penny out of the record company they can.

Vedderfan10 wrote:

cropduster82 wrote:

he says it degraded the integrity of the song. Be honest, did anyone hear this Gordon Peterson version before Into the Wild came out? My guess is no. I didn't. Eddie's version was played on radio stations and if anything brought royalties to Gordon Peterson. He should be happy. I don't think this lawsuit will go very far. I bet Eddie can afford better lawyers.

Sorry everyone - this was a number one song in Canada in 1989/early 1990 and it was very very heavily played on pretty much every radio station and the video (credited to Indio, which included Joni Mitchell) was played in very heavy rotation on Muchmusic. Just because Americans didn't hear it before Ed did it does not mean it did not exist.

And Ed changed the lyrics quite significantly. I love this song to death and it was/is very special to me back in the day, Ed's changes were really obvious.

Original, "Burned down and threw away the hours..."
Ed, "Bound down and threw away the hours..."

Original, "When I stayed to pillage her..."
Ed, "When I see her bitter/pin her charms..."

I understood that Gordon Peterson could not be found to ask if the lyrics could be changed. He's quite the recluse apparently.

I believe the song is about the planet, so the original words make the most sense...

So, Ed's not perfect. Big deal. But he shouldn't have changed the lyrics without permission. He'd probably freak if someone asked to use Black, and he said sure, and then the lyrics were changed. I would imagine anyone would. Do you mind if you I use the personal song most associated with you and defines you? Would it bug you if I made it better, because I think some things in Black don't make sense? Great! Thanks!

I was 7 or 8 years old when it came out and lived in the US which would explain why I never heard it and judging by the majority of people on here, they didn't hear it till ITW came out. But still, I don't think the very minor changes warrant a lawsuit. When an artist asks another artist permission to use a song, it doesn't necessarily mean they have to cover it exactly. They might just use a verse or a solo. Would that "erode the dignity" of the song?

BabaBooey1979 wrote:

I'm sure this guy signed a contract for a certain amount of money with the record company. Thinking that I wasn't going to be a big deal he said ok and signed for a mediocre amount. after the success he is now rethinking it and wants more money. So let's sue the record company and complain about the lyrics.

People do this all the time. No one ever honors a contract anymore. I'm sure this guys lawyers got him started with this and they'll squeeze every penny out of the record company they can.

agree with this. Plus, a frivolous lawsuit against a big name is easy publicity that Gordon would otherwise not have. It's happened before, & will again.

Enjoy the royalites, Peterson. I mean really, he probably made more money off of iTunes sales of Eddie's single than he ever has in the past. And because of that, he's going to try to milk it for all it's worth with this proposed lawsuit. I understand where he's coming from with his claim...but it's so petty.