By Geoff Boucher and Martin Zimmerman
Times Staff Writers
December 19, 2006
The Summer of Love is long gone. Here comes the Winter of Litigation.
Led Zeppelin, the Doors, the Grateful Dead and Carlos Santana — a rock 'n'
roll dream team, circa 1970 — are suing Wolfgang's Vault, a Bay Area seller of
classic-rock memorabilia and reproductions that also streams vintage concerts
on the Web.
Wolfgang's Vault launched three years ago as an Internet merchant for the vast
trove of memorabilia amassed by the late, iconic concert promoter Bill Graham.
In November, the website ignited considerable fan excitement when it began
streaming hundreds of rare concert moments that Graham filmed and archived
during the glory days of rock.
The complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco claims that
the memorabilia sales and streaming of performance footage are clear
exploitations of the intellectual property and artistic success of the
plaintiffs, who are described in the suit as "among the most legendary
recording and performing artists of all time." The sales of items have
continued despite "repeated demands" by the artists that the company stop, the
suit alleges.
The lawsuit names as defendant William E. Sagan, the former head of a
Minnesota healthcare company who became a rock entrepreneur when, for about $6
million, he acquired a warehouse piled high with Graham's relics. Born
Wolfgang Grajonca in Germany, Graham died in 1991 in a helicopter accident.
Since then, the trove changed hands several times before Sagan got it.
"Sagan simply doesn't have the legal rights to exploit and profit from the
extraordinary success of these musicians," said attorney Jeff Reeves, who
represents the musicians and works in the Irvine offices of Los Angeles law
firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. "This memorabilia was created in the first place
for the purposes of promoting concerts and as gifts for fans and concert crew.
Graham himself did not have the right to sell, reproduce or otherwise exploit
these materials as a promoter, and neither does Sagan, who was not authorized
to purchase these materials and who has absolutely no connection to the
artists or their music."
The lawsuit requests a permanent injunction barring Wolfgang's Vault from
selling any of the plaintiffs' memorabilia or recordings and demands that "all
merchandise and goods" bearing the musicians' "names, voices, likenesses,
photographs, identities, trademarks or copyrights" be handed over to the
plaintiffs. The plaintiffs also want to be paid all of the profits made from
the sale of their memorabilia, as well as punitive damages.
Sagan said the company was contacted this year by "one or two" of the
plaintiffs.
"They wrote us a letter, we wrote them a letter, and we never heard back," he
said.
Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek said he and his two surviving bandmates, Robbie
Krieger and John Densmore, along with the estate of lead singer Jim Morrison,
believe they deserve royalties whenever Sagan exploits the Doors' legacy.
"That's how artists make money, and it's OK for artists to make money and they
should make money when people are selling their name and their image,"
Manzarek said. "If people are buying something because it says the Doors on it
then, you know, you should give the Doors some of the money. Look, I need to
pay my electric bill. I play an electric keyboard."
geoff.boucher@latimes.com
martin.zimmerman@latimes.com
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