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
indie means not signed to a major label.
Bloody HELL. That was a good job. The links from the MTV website to the Metallica website made it quite convincing.
I still think Lars in a boil on the butt of rock music.
ThinkDifferent pointed this out to me about 40 posts ago. Thanks, though. I get it now.
;) ttt
Agree. Like everyone else, I thought it was a joke at first. E and F aren't even chords, they're notes. Do they mean major or minor or what? Do they even know what they mean?
"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
Oh, I get it. They aren't sayng they own E and F, just locrian and phrygian modes. They have a patent on locrian and phrygian modes as played through distorted guitars and they mean to enforce it.
Has there ever been a band that wore black on stage that DIDN'T lean heavy on that transition? This just goes to show that I was right all those years ago when I came to the conclusion that their music was what happens when stupid guys try to pretend they are serious and heavy. And Hammet has no musicality to his playing.
I see someone's a little sore.
Hehehe, not at all, good sir. Just a little miffed that I missed the obvious hoax.
:) ttt
You can donate my royalty check to FR, though.
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