Eric Clapton’s Management Sort of Regrets Suing German Widow Over Attempted $11 Bootleg CD SaleChris Willman - Yesterday 10:55 PM

msn ^

[WeaslesRippedMyFlesh]

After a spate of bad publicity over winning a Goliath-versus-David lawsuit, Eric Clapton’s management has announced it does not intend to collect the money owed by a German woman who was sued for putting a bootleg CD of a 1980s Clapton concert up for sale on eBay.

The woman had been ordered to pay approximately $4,000 after a judge ruled she had infringed Clapton’s copyright by trying to sell the more than 30-year-old CD, which her late husband had purchased at a department store, for 9.95 euros, or roughly $11.20. The illicit disc was removed from the site after a day and was not actually sold.

[snip]

The statement, issued to the musician’s fan club, said that “when the full facts of this particular case came to light and it was clear the individual is not the type of person Eric Clapton or his record company wish to target, Eric Clapton decided not to take any further action and does not intend to collect the costs awarded to him by the court. Also, he hopes the individual will not herself incur any further costs.”

Said the statement, “It is not the intention to target individuals selling isolated CDs from their own collection, but rather the active bootleggers manufacturing unauthorized copies for sale.

[snip]

[Jeff Chandler]

I'm going to cause a disturbance in the force, but I never liked Clampton.

I like his early stuff -- a lot. His early stuff was the best. Listen closely to the guitar on White Room. The part where the waa-waaing guitar transforms into a warbling flute. About 2:40. I still get goose bumps.

He was a pioneer, like Hendrix.

Unfortunately, I haven't cared for his products since Derek and the Dominoes. Maybe that's when he got sober.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Yeah, but it was a misdemeanor in California because she was worth less than $900.

[pepsi_junkie]

His work as part of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers was among the most influential guitar recordings ever. Because of the playing? Yes, in part. Clapton at that time was playing loud and aggressive and really taring it up in a way that he'd abandon after he left Cream. But here was the first time it was heard on vinyl.

But the truly influential thing was the sound of his guitar, his tone. Everyone was playing Rickenbacher and Gretsch hollow body jangly guitars or the new Fender Teles and Strats. Clapton grabbed an old '59 or '60 Les Paul (the model at that time was out of production because nobody wanted them anymore) and plugged it into an amp from a new boutique amp company in London called Marshall and he turned it up to eleven. The sound he got was the sound everyone after that wanted. All those guys in the '60s and '70s playing Les Pauls into Marshall stacks took their lead from Clapton. He wrote the book on the sound of rock from 1966 on.

[minnesota_bound]

Eric has an extra $11.25 and the scorn of people around the world.

[daniel1212]

" The excerpt said it was "bootleg" but also seemingly purchased legitimately at a department store. What exactly makes it illicit?"

Even if you buy a stolen car at a legit site and try to sell it later, then you are be charged with selling stolen property. And the women had responded with defiance and hot lawyers involved:

Lawyers in Germany had sent a letter to the woman about the listing, and she had replied: “I object and ask you not to harass or contact me any further. Feel free to file a lawsuit if you insist on the demands." An injunction was filed and the court found in the 'Wonderful Tonight' hitmaker's favour, with the woman then appealing the verdict, stating she had removed the listing after one day and that her late husband had originally bought the CD in 197 at a popular German department store. Gabriele lost her appeal, with the judge insisting it was irrelevant she didn't buy the CD herself. The court ordered her to pay both parties' legal fees, which totalled £2,889 and warned her that if she continued to list the disc for sale, under German copyright law she could be fined up to £212, 353 or jailed for six months. - https://www.kilgorenewsherald.com/eric-clapton-successfully-sues-over-bootleg-cd/article_2027f464-1a21-5e72-bcb3-ed10c86ce656.html

I myself would not sell such music.

[Night Hides Not]

Thanks for posting the truth: all the woman had to do was apologize. Instead, she lawyered up, and lost.

Had Duane Allman not killed himself in a motorcycle accident, it's quite possible that Derek and the Dominos would have put Clapton in the HoF for a fourth time. Eric and Duane became close friends during the time together on Derek and the Dominos, and would have produced multiple albums.

It wasn't until I saw Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas in 2019 that I gained a greater appreciation for his work. I fell in love with the Tedeschi-Trucks band, and their rendition of Keep on Growin'. Little did I know that was a Derek and the Dominos song.

Up until that concert, I was basically stuck around 1984. It hasn't moved that much, but my interests have broadened a bit. That's ok, I had plenty to listen to while stationed in Germany from 77-81. I passed what minimal free time by mixing cassettes from the 10-12 albums I purchased every month...brought home over 400 albums.

[PGR88]

So a department store is the one responsible for selling bootleg CDs in the first place? What is their responsibility in this?

Did the woman’s husband (or she later) know that it was bootleg when they bought it?

[daniel1212]

"So a department store is the one responsible for selling bootleg CDs in the first place? What is their responsibility in this? Did the woman’s husband (or she later) know that it was bootleg when they bought it?"

It and he and she would be responsible if such knew of it being bootleg (which a reputable store would have checked or failed to perform reasonable expected checks, but it seems the real issue is that when legally informed of her violation she insolently called their bluff. Which wa$ not a bluff.