Metallica Sue Canadian Band over E, F Chords

MTV News ^ | 2003-07-16 | Joe D'Angelo

[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

[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.

;) ttt

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[balrog666]

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!

[austinTparty]

Holy cow. I thought for sure this was an Onion piece at first...

[stainlessbanner]

Metallica spends more time make lawsuits than music.

[TomServo]

Jeeez - I thought this was a joke...

[Doctor Stochastic]

John Cage's estate may sue over the rests in their music, too.

[freedom moose]

this is a joke right?

[Cogadh na Sith]

C'mon...

Quit pulling my leg. Gotta be a hoax.

[dirtboy]

I suppose they'll next sue some band for using electric guitars.

[mommybain]

This is the funniest thing I've seen in ages...makes my music degree worth the money I paid for it 20 years ago!

[EggsAckley]

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!

[skeeter]

That Lars is a whirling dervish in a courtroom.

[glock rocks]

reality imitates satire?

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

don't make me press the issue.

GLock rocks.

[TommyDale]

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.

[ThinkDifferent]

this is a joke right?

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

[biblewonk]

Dr Evil's dad invented the question mark.

[Thane_Banquo]

"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.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Guido's estate may sue over a whole gamut of notes.

[Possenti]

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!"?