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Meat Loaf's "Hellish" Lawsuit
06/06/2006 12:22 PM, E! Online
For Meat Loaf, "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" is
more than just a hit song--it's a defense.
The
rocker has filed suit against two members of his creative team,
songwriter Jim Steinman and manager David Sonenberg, for more than $50
million over trademark rights to the phrase "Bat Out of Hell."
The Grammy winner, whose real name is Michael Aday, filed
the suit May 26 in Los Angeles federal district court, claiming that
Steinman, who penned the epic song, wrongfully registered the phrase as
his trademark in 1995.
The complaint argues that
while Meat Loaf didn't actually come up with the signature phrase, he
has used it extensively for 29 career-spanning years, starting with the
1977 album Bat Out of Hell, and claims its legal association
should be with him, not Steinman.
The suit further
claims that the songwriter, who composed the majority of his former
partner's hits, including, per All Music Guide, "Two out of Three Ain't
Bad," "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" and "I'd Do Anything for Love
(But I Won't Do That)," registered the phrase as trademark "out of
nowhere."
Much like where it appears this lawsuit is
coming from, more than 10 years after the fact.
Meat Loaf, though, claims he's seeking to gain the trademark after a
recent falling out with Steinman which threatens his professional use of
the "bat out of hell" phrase.
"The contention is
blackmail and a holdup," the complaint read, claiming that Steinman and
Sonenberg were interfering with distribution contracts by refusing to
release the trademark rights.
According to
Billboard, trouble started brewing between the men when Meat Loaf
offered Steinman a writing and producing credit on his next album,
Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose, due in October.
"Along with Jim's lawyer, we had negotiated by far the
best producer agreement we had ever seen," the record's exec producer
Winston Simone told the music magazine. "Unfortunately, Jim decided not
to sign the agreement or accept the very substantial advance."
It was then, per Billboard, that Steinman and his
reps, which included Sonenberg, approached the rocker's labels Universal
and Virgin, asserting his trademark ownership of the titular phrase and
threatening to file a lawsuit of his own.
The suit
claims Steinman and Sonenberg used their wrongfully held rights to the
phrase "as the basis of a campaign to undermine and interfere with"
various elements of Meat Loaf's music, including concert tours, albums,
recordings, videos and merchandise.
"Meat Loaf will
not be bullied by anyone," the singer's lawyer, Louis "Skip" Miller,
told Billboard. "He will continue to use the title Bat Out of
Hell in any way he wants."
The suit asks that
the court determine which party should possess the phrase's rights,
along with the $50 million in damages.
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