Rock Royalties

  Our story this week is one of rock gods who have gotten greedy and forgotten their roots.  It’s a sordid tale of hypocrisy, avarice, and a quest to keep the little man down.  Its very essence is antithetical to the spirit of Rock and Roll—or at least to what the spirit of Rock and Roll should be.

  It all began on January 15 and 16 of this year, when a Vail, CO, nightclub called 8150 brought in an all-female Led Zeppelin cover band from New York City named Lez Zeppelin.  It’s not clear from reports whether the band played both nights, but the legal fallout from the performance has Steven Kovacik, the club’s owner, ensnared in a lawsuit that will certainly have him thinking twice before booking another live band.

  Sometime in the subsequent month, a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court against Kovacik—and the list of plaintiffs was a virtual who’s who of Rock and Roll royalty.  Listed as plaintiffs: the Van Halen Music Company, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and Patricia Bonham (widow of Zeppelin drummer John Bonham).  The suit alleges that Kovacik allowed covers of songs written by the plaintiffs to be performed in his nightclub without obtaining permission from the copyright holders or from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), an organization that oversees copyright licenses.  There are ten counts of copyright infringement cited in the suit—or ten cover songs played in those two days—and the plaintiffs are seeking damages ranging from $750 to $10,000 per song, plus attorney fees.

  Strictly from a legal standpoint, the suit is not without merit.  Technically speaking, musicians are required to obtain permission from, and pay royalties to, a songwriter every time a song is performed live before a paying audience.  However, that is seldom—or almost never—the case.  In most instances, cover performances are simply seen as a tribute to a band or musician’s Rock and Roll hero; it is generally seen as a tribute, the sincerest form of flattery, and no remuneration is expected. 

  And this is where the hypocrisy comes in.  Let’s take a little trip through the annals of rock history.  Let’s go back to the evening of June 21, 1966, in a London nightclub called The Marquee.  Jimmy Page is taking the stage for the first time with a band called The Yardbirds, a bluesy rock band with a few hits under their belt, a band that Eric Clapton has just left.  And maybe they perform a cover that night of an old blues tune by Muddy Waters or Howlin’ Wolf or Bo Diddley.  Do you think that they paid the songwriter anything for their performance that night?  Probably not.

  David Lee Roth was playing the Pasadena club circuit with the Van Halen brothers in 1973—of course, they were called Mammoth then.  They weren’t making a whole lot of money, but were building a reputation for being the hardest rocking cover band in the Los Angeles area.  That’s right, cover band.  Do you think they were paying The Kinks every time they covered “You Really Got Me” in a smoky club on the Sunset Strip?  Probably not.

  And that is why this lawsuit is so egregious, so preposterous.  It is an affront to the spirit of Rock and Roll.  And why Kovacik is being targeted, instead of the offending band(s), defies logic. I guess they must figure he has more money.

 -From Pulse
   March 22, 2007