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Metallica Sue Canadian Band over E, F Chords
MTV News ^ | 2003-07-16 | Joe D'Angelo

Posted on 07/16/2003 1:39:38 PM PDT by detsaoT

MONTREAL - Metallica are taking legal action against independant Canadian rock band Unfaith over what they feel is unsanctioned usage of two chords the band has been using since 1982 : E and F.

"People are going to get on our case again for this, but try to see it from our point of view just once," stated Metallica's Lars Ulrich. "We're not saying we own those two chords, individually - that would be ridiculous. We're just saying that in that specific order, people have grown to associate E, F with our music."

Metallica filed a trademark infringement suit against the indie group at the US district court for central California on Monday. According to the drummer, the continued use of the two chords causes "confusion, deception and mistake in the minds of the public".

Metallica's lawyer, Jill Pietrini, told us that the band decided to take legal action only after first sending a letter of complaint to the Canadian band's singer/songwriter, Erik Ashley.

"We sent a demand letter and haven't reached a resolution, so we had to sue," she said. "They continue to shamelessly feature the two chords on their website song samples and we just can't have that."

Ashley, in the meantime, is still shocked by the entire story, and hasn't yet decided how the band will respond.

"I thought it was a prank at first," he told us. "Now I'm not sure what to think."

Ulrich states that he's not trying to prevent Unfaith from using the two chords, only that he feels Metallica should be credited for them whenever used, and is calling for 50% of all revenue generated from any song using them.

"It's nothing personal against them," he added. "We intend to enforce our rights with any band intending to use Metallica-branded chords in the future."

This marks the first time anything of this kind has ever been tried in court, and it will be interesting to see how things develop.

Metallica's website has issued an official statement on the suit here.

Unfaith's official website hasn't officially responded at print time.

- Joe D'Angelo


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Political Humor/Cartoons
KEYWORDS: doh; goodspoof; goombahs; hacks; hasbeens; hoax; joke; loudnessrocks; mdm; metallica; notalent; notreal; scoopthiscomeback; vanhalenrules
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Memo to Metallica: Learn more chords. Also try to get some talent, so you don't have to spend so much time in court.

;) ttt

1 posted on 07/16/2003 1:39:39 PM PDT by detsaoT
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To: All
50,000 people go to a baseball game, but the game was rained out. A refund is then due. The team is about to mail refunds when the Congressional Democrats stopps them and decrees that they send out refund amounts based on the Democrat National Committee's interpretation of fairness. After all,if the refunds are made based on the price each person paid for the tickets, most of the money would go to the wealthiest ticket holders. That would be unconscionable!
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Your donations keep us fighting liberals

2 posted on 07/16/2003 1:41:17 PM PDT by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: detsaoT
Memo to Metallica: Learn more chords. Also try to get some talent, so you don't have to spend so much time in court.

Yeah! And quit burning yourself up!

3 posted on 07/16/2003 1:42:04 PM PDT by balrog666 (My tag line is still broken.)
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To: detsaoT
Holy cow. I thought for sure this was an Onion piece at first...
4 posted on 07/16/2003 1:42:07 PM PDT by austinTparty
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To: detsaoT
Metallica spends more time make lawsuits than music.
5 posted on 07/16/2003 1:43:15 PM PDT by stainlessbanner (Have a Nice Day)
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To: detsaoT
Jeeez - I thought this was a joke...
6 posted on 07/16/2003 1:44:18 PM PDT by TomServo ("We've secretly replaced the Pacific Ocean with Folgers crystals ...")
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To: detsaoT
John Cage's estate may sue over the rests in their music, too.
7 posted on 07/16/2003 1:44:41 PM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: detsaoT
this is a joke right?
8 posted on 07/16/2003 1:44:54 PM PDT by freedom moose
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To: detsaoT
C'mon...

Quit pulling my leg. Gotta be a hoax.

9 posted on 07/16/2003 1:44:55 PM PDT by Cogadh na Sith (The Guns of Brixton)
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To: detsaoT
I suppose they'll next sue some band for using electric guitars.
10 posted on 07/16/2003 1:45:33 PM PDT by dirtboy (Not enough words in FR taglines to adequately describe the dimensions of Hillary's thunderous thighs)
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To: detsaoT
This is the funniest thing I've seen in ages...makes my music degree worth the money I paid for it 20 years ago!
11 posted on 07/16/2003 1:45:34 PM PDT by mommybain (not Walmart greeter material)
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To: detsaoT
I had to check to make sure this wasn't from The Onion; it's that stupid. I'm a retired musician, and I can tell you that I've used a lot of E and F chords in MY day. So did Henry Mancini (Pink Panther.)

Such silliness. And Metallica doesn't even realize how much they are embarassing themselves. LOL!

12 posted on 07/16/2003 1:45:47 PM PDT by EggsAckley ( "Aspire to mediocracy"................new motto for publik skools.............)
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To: detsaoT
That Lars is a whirling dervish in a courtroom.
13 posted on 07/16/2003 1:46:40 PM PDT by skeeter (Fac ut vivas)
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To: detsaoT; Sir Gawain
reality imitates satire?

I've been using the GL combo since 7 of 01.

don't make me press the issue.

GLock rocks.
14 posted on 07/16/2003 1:46:40 PM PDT by glock rocks (Remember... only YOU can prevent fair funkles. support Free Republic)
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To: detsaoT
Well, next thing we know is that someone is going to sue the entire country, old rock and gospel musicians for using G, C and D.
15 posted on 07/16/2003 1:48:26 PM PDT by TommyDale
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To: freedom moose
this is a joke right?

Yep, check the URL. The sad thing is that it's not that hard to believe.

16 posted on 07/16/2003 1:48:33 PM PDT by ThinkDifferent
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To: detsaoT
Dr Evil's dad invented the question mark.
17 posted on 07/16/2003 1:48:39 PM PDT by biblewonk (Spose to be a Chrisssssstian)
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To: detsaoT
"We're not saying we own those two chords, individually - that would be ridiculous. We're just saying that in that specific order, people have grown to associate E, F with our music."

Get a clue, Lars. You can't copyright a chord progression.

18 posted on 07/16/2003 1:48:40 PM PDT by Thane_Banquo
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To: Thane_Banquo
Guido's estate may sue over a whole gamut of notes.
19 posted on 07/16/2003 1:51:17 PM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: detsaoT
a trademark infringement suit against the indie group at the US district court

What the hell is an "indie" group anyway? I always thought that was where the band was from. Apparently not - these guys are Canadian.

Metallica needs to lighten up. Sounds like their egos are getting a little inflated. What ever happened to, "it's about the music, dude!"?

20 posted on 07/16/2003 1:51:26 PM PDT by Possenti
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