Diary of a Doors Drama
W E E K S I X
Monday, August 2, 2004 John and Leslie were in court this morning when the jurors were brought into the courtroom at 9:45. Mr. Alan Goldman returned to the witness stand to continue being questioned by defense attorney, Mr. William Briggs. Mr. Goldman's testimony began last Thursday afternoon and continued all day Friday.
The testimony centered around financial statements for Doors Touring, Inc. for numerous reporting periods; the jury submitted two questions of their own. The jurors got their morning break at 10:45 as Mr. Briggs finished questioning the witness. After the break ended at 11:10, there were another half-dozen or so questions from the jury. When those were answered, plaintiffs' attorney Mr. Jerry Mandel came back for re-direct. Again, the questions and testimony were all regarding the financial statements and the formation of Doors Touring, Inc.
Court broke for lunch at noon; the jurors were returned to the courtroom at 1:40, but a missing juror delayed resumption until 1:45. Morrison granddaughter Tristin was in attendance for the afternoon session until the break. Mr. Mandel continued his questioning until 2:10, when plaintiff attorney Mr. Jeff Forer took over questioning until 2:45. Mr. Briggs returned to ask the witness questions up until the afternoon break from 3:05 to 3:25.
Mr. Briggs continued after the break for five minutes, then Mr. Mandel was back questioning the witness for another five minutes. Mr. Forer passed, Mr. Briggs was back at 3:35 -- Mr. Mandel at 3:40 -- Mr. Briggs at 3:45 with one question, which was followed by about a dozen new questions from the jury. After answering those, Mr. Goldman was excused from the witness stand at 3:55.
The plaintiffs' attorneys indicated that their remaining case would be the half-hour videotaped deposition from Mr. Skinner, a CD from Clear Channel to be opened and played, a few miscellaneous audio and video clips, and a few exhibits to move in.
Messrs. Briggs and Lukacs requested that a defense witness be sworn in out of order, as he would be available only today. It was 3:55 and Judge Alarcon asked the jury about staying until 5:00 to work with this, which they agreed to.
Mr. Del Furano, CEO of Sony Signatures Network, was sworn in. Since he was a witness for the defense, he was first questioned by Mr. Briggs. Mr. Furano was there under subpoena from the defense counsel. His company's business is the licensing and merchandising of music artists with apparel, posters, calendars, toys, etc. which are sold at concerts, stores, and through websites. Mr. Furano explained his company's position about working with artists on merchandising and marketing efforts. His company has a licensing agreement with The Doors, as well as an agreement with The Doors of the 21st Century.
Mr. Briggs finished questioning his witness at 4:15, and Mr. Mandel began his re-direct up until 4:55. I believe that Mr. Furano is required to return to court on Tuesday to finish giving testimony. When that concludes, then the process will revert to the attorneys for the plaintiffs to finish up the presentation of their case.
Tuesday, August 3, 2004 John and Leslie, Rear Admiral & Mrs. Morrison and Andy, were all in attendance this morning while the court waited for late juror arrivals again. In the meantime, the attorneys argued some points to Judge Alarcon. The jurors were brought in at 9:55, and Mr. Furano of Sony Signatures Network was back in the witness chair. Plaintiff attorney Mr. Mandel continued with the witness, questioning him on the sale of licensed merchandise at various D21C shows and the agreements in place to do so.
When Mr. Mandel finished at 10:15, plaintiff attorney Mr. Forer took over with more merchandise questions. This included the display and discussion of representative tee-shirts sold at shows. Mr. Forer ended at 10:30. Mr. Briggs picked up the line of questioning about the merchandise deals in place, and the likely impact on merchandise sales if the music of The Doors were licensed for commercials.
Mr. Briggs ended at 10:45, and Mr. Mandel returned with more questioning until 11:00 ... Mr. Briggs was back with one question ... Mr. Mandel came back ... and then the witness had about ten questions from the jury to answer. When those were completed, Mr. Briggs came back, and at 11:20 the witness was excused and the jury was given a morning break.
Morrison granddaughter Tristin had joined her family when the jurors were returned from break at 11:40. The last 30 minutes of a videotaped deposition from Mr. Skinner from Houston's Arrow FM radio station needed to be played; about 15 minutes of that was viewed before the lunch break began at noon.
The jurors were returned at 1:35 and the balance of the Skinner deposition was viewed. At 2:00 the defense had some rebuttal clips from the same deposition for the jury to view. Next, a letter and CD received from Clear Channel, Inc. was opened, its declaration was read, and the content of the CD was played. These were audio clips of the commercials used to promote the D21C show in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2003. When that finished, Mr. Mandel and Mr. Forer identified some additional exhibits to be admitted into evidence, and then the attorneys for the plaintiffs rested their case at 2:20.
Now, the defense team presents their case!
Mr. Jay Coleman was called as the second witness for the defense (Mr. Furano was also called by the defense, and allowed to testify out of order). Under questioning from Mr. Briggs, Mr. Coleman gave his educational background as a 1972 graduate of University of Boston at Tufts, as well as having attended NYU School of Business. Mr. Coleman was retained by the defense team as an expert witness.
While at Tufts, he and some classmates began a marketing company which eventually became Rockbill in 1976, a fulltime business dedicated to working with national advertisers to reach teenage markets. Rockbill works with companies to tie-in with music to help promote their products and services. Bands who were once nervous about "selling out" and aligning themselves with big business, became more interested in selling merchandise and being tied in with products as record companies in the late 70's began cutting back on tour support.
Mr. Coleman cited many examples of successful marriages of bands or solo performers with product endorsements or tour sponsorship, and discussed the impact such alliances had on the performers. The Morrison family left for the day during the 3:00 to 3:20 break.
Mr. Briggs resumed his direct examination of the witness after the return from afternoon break, giving the witness opportunity to discuss more successful instances of sponsorships and their positive results for both the performers and products. At a juror's request, today's session needed to end at 4:00, so Mr. Coleman will be returned tomorrow for continued testimony.
Wednesday, August 4, 2004 This morning's court session began at 9:40, with John and Ray both in attendance and sitting on opposite sides of the aisle. Mr. Jay Coleman, witness for the defense, was back to continue his testimony under direct examination from Mr. Briggs.
The lines of questioning dealt largely with the use of rock music in commercials. To illustrate that point for the jury, two examples regarded as successful pairings were played: Bob Seger's 'Like a Rock' with Chevy trucks, and the Rolling Stones' 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' with Coke's C2. The witness was making the point that rock music is a business, and by virtue of signing a recording contract, the artists have the right to market and exploit their products.
Mr. Coleman went on to explain that "brands" began to develop in the rock world about 10 to 15 years ago. The Rolling Stones tongue was probably the first rock "mark" -- most bands didn't have consistent logos. In the 60's, The Doors were not considered to be a brand; Jim died before brand strategy existed. Back in the 60's and 70's, artists did not expect that they would still be relevant today. After some additional opinions by Mr. Coleman about the theoretical use of high-profile Doors songs, Mr. Briggs finished at 10:15 and Mr. Forer took over cross-examination.
Mr. Forer re-visited the witness' education and established that Mr. Coleman has never written any books, taught at a university or been an expert witness at a trial before, although he has written several articles and done guest lectures. Mr. Coleman explained the business of his company (since 1976), as a middleman. Sometimes, Entertainment Marketing Communications International (EMCI) finds a sponsor for a band; sometimes his company represents a corporation seeking an artist or band to tie-in with. Mr. Coleman gave several examples of rock acts who do not do commercials: most notably, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. He told the jury that the first sponsored tour was the Rolling Stones and Jovan, and talked about how that tour tie-in benefited Jovan.
Mr. Forer rested at 10:45, and Mr. Mandel picked up the cross-examination with several questions about Mr. Coleman's background and his depth of knowledge about The Doors. After a morning break from 11:00 to 11:15, Mr. Mandel continued with the witness, and quoted from a story on the EMCI website which led off with the tale about Jim Morrison's outrage over the Buick commercial. Mr. Coleman explained correlations between corporate marketing strategies and the advertising dollars available.
Following the lunch break from noon until 1:30, Leslie joined John in the courtroom as Mr. Mandel continued his cross-examination of Mr. Coleman. This included discussion about the entertainment value of commercials and "brand personality" such as Revlon (sexy and confident); L'Oreal (fashionable and European); Jaguar (sleek and cat-like); and The Doors era as being one of rebellion, rule-breaking, lasting and classic, anti-establishment, great music. The afternoon break was from 3:00 to 3:30, with Mr. Mandel still questioning Mr. Coleman until 3:45.
Mr. Briggs returned after Mr. Mandel rested, with more testimony about commercials, brands, and artistic control. Mr. Briggs ended at 4:25, and Mr. Mandel returned briefly, followed by Mr. Briggs again. It was now 4:30 and the witness needed to finish his testimony to catch a flight, so the jury stayed on so the witness could answer 12 or 15 questions that had been submitted from them. The witness and the jurors were excused at 4:50.
Tomorrow will be the last court session this week; due to budget constraints, court reporter services get cut back on Fridays and the courts have to take turns going dark.
Thursday, August 5, 2004 This morning's session began at 9:45 with Ray in the courtroom. Mr. William Briggs called Mr. Nicholas Clainos as a paid expert witness for the defense, not under subpoena. Mr. Clainos graduated Princeton University in 1968 with a Political Science degree and got a law degree from Stamford. He passed the California bar exam in 1972 and began practicing law, exclusively dedicated to the music field. He was in San Francisco in the early 70's and went to work for Bill Graham as his counsel, eventually stopping his law practice to help run that business. Mr. Clainos branched out to promote all types of shows. He started an artist management company: the flip side of being a promoter. He helped artists negotiate record contracts and build their careers with career guidance, ensuring adequate compensation and protecting their image.
John arrived at 10:00, as Mr. Clainos was explaining the business from a promoter's viewpoint, i.e., knowing a band's audience: expected attendance and ticket prices that will bear. An agent wants to maximize ticket prices, and a promoter wants to minimize the ticket prices.
Interestingly, Mr. Clainos said he was also one of the producers - along with Bill Graham - of the Oliver Stone movie "The Doors." He was mostly involved in getting the music rights together, and had discussions with all three Doors as well as the Morrisons and Coursons.
He was there to give his expert opinion about the potential for success of a band who has lost a founding member. In doing so, he cited examples such as Rolling Stones, Genesis, Roxy Music, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Allman Brothers, and spoke at length about several of those bands in particular.
After the morning break from 11:05 to 11:25, Mr. Briggs continued his questioning of the witness. Mr. Clainos explained that this year's concert business is at its lowest ebb in modern history. Many big-name performers have cancelled their tours, or are playing to less than 25% capacity venues. Clear Channel has reduced their prices for lawn tickets this year to $20., even $10., due to the unprecedented lagging sales.
Mr. Briggs rested his direct examination at 11:50. Mr. Forer began his cross-examination with questions about the witness' knowledge of contractual agreements that may have been in place between members of the Grateful Dead. The jurors were recessed at noon for the lunch break.
Ray did not return for the afternoon session. When the jurors were returned at 1:40, there were six new faces in the audience to watch the proceedings. From their whispering and gestures, I deduced they were fans hoping to get John's autograph, but they left en masse before the afternoon break and missed their opportunity! Meanwhile, Mr. Forer continued his questioning on topics of the witness' opinion on the importance of the logo, Jim's image, even lizard imagery. Variations on admats were shown to the witness for comment.
Mr. Forer finished and Mr. Mandel took over cross-examination at 2:45 until the afternoon break at 3:00. A straggling juror's return delayed resumption until 3:25, at which time Mr. Mandel played several selections from the Clear Channel CD used to promote last year's Albuquerque show for the witness' comments.
At the request of one of the jurors, today's session had to end early again, at 4:00. There will be no court session tomorrow (Friday), and the court is also dark on Monday morning. This trial will resume at 1:30 Monday afternoon for a half-day session.
Mr. Clanois has not been excused as a witness yet, but is unavailable to return on Monday. The defense team indicated that Monday afternoon's witness will probably be Tom Vitorino. Mr. Clanois will return later in the week to complete his testimony.
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WEEK FIVE july 26 - july 30, 2004 - Gary Stiffelman, Stewart Copeland, Anthony DeCurtis, Jaime Alvarez, Eric Kohler, Tom Vitorino deposition, Dr. John Anderson, Alan Goldman
WEEK FOUR july 19 - july 23, 2004 - Todd Gray, Ray deposition, Steven Bassett deposition, Mr. Skinner deposition, Tom Vitorino deposition, Mark Hurwitz, Rear Admiral Morrison, Michael Grace, Tommy Gear
WEEK THREE july 12 - july 16, 2004 - Ian deposition, Robert Greene, Abe Somer, Nigel Williamson, Robby deposition, David Kirby, Jerry Swartz
WEEK TWO july 6 - july 9, 2004 - jury finalization, John testimony, Ian deposition
WEEK ONE June 29 - July 2, 2004 - jury selection
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Related media stories:
July 3, 2004 -- Times UK by Nigel Williamson: "And The Brand Played On"
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