|
Meat Loaf No Longer "Bat" Crazy
08/01/2006 2:09 PM, E! Online
Meat Loaf has dropped his "Bat Out of Hell" lawsuit faster than,
well, you know.
The Grammy-winning rocker has resolved the
$50 million lawsuit filed last month against longtime songwriting
partner Jim Steinman over trademark rights to the Loaf's signature album
title.
"It resolved itself very quickly because neither one
of us wanted to argue," the 59-year-old singer, whose real name is
Marvin Aday, told Reuters. "There's a mutual love and respect there.
"We're not going to have a knock-down brawl. We just have too
much history."
The rocker filed suit against Steinman, who
penned the epic '70s ditty "Bat Out of Hell" and the other songs on the
monster-selling album of the same name, for wrongfully trademarking the
phrase back in 1995. While Meat Loaf acknowledged the fact that he
hadn't actually come up with the signature four words, he had used them
extensively for 29 career-spanning years and argued that the phrase's
legal association should be with him, not Steinman.
Incidentally, the rocker didn't appear to have a problem with his
creative partner's 11-year-old trademark until the two had a falling out
when, according to Billboard, Steinman failed to receive a
producing credit on Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose,
due out Oct. 31.
After the professional snub, Steinman
allegedly threatened to exercise his exclusive hold on the phrase by
refusing to release the rights, an act that would have held up
distribution of the Loaf album.
But the inability to use the
phrase would have done more than crippled the rocker's upcoming
release--it would have brought his entire empire to a halt.
The veteran singer's claim that he had ties to the phrase for the
duration of his career is, if anything, an understatement. The phrase
practically is his career.
In addition to the song "Bat Out of
Hell" and its eponymous album, Meat Loaf also released Bat Out of
Hell II: Back Into Hell in 1993. The two albums have sold more than
45 million copies.
The phrase also provided the name for
various concert tours, recordings, videos and merchandise under the Meat
Loaf brand.
The rocker and his songwriter, however, have
since put the dispute behind them, with Steinman contributing seven
songs for Meat Loaf's new album, including "It's All Coming Back to Me
Now," made famous by Celine Dion but written to be included on the
original Bat Out of Hell.
"Sometimes there's just
disagreements that in business two people can't settle, so you just need
to involve other people...you always hate to see it get to that," the
performer told Reuters.
And to ensure those fences remain
mended, Meat Loaf sang his collaborator's praise at a recent nightclub
gig.
"If it was not for Jim Steinman and his brilliance and
his ability to turn a phrase and his concepts, we wouldn't be here
tonight," he said. "He really liked the record, that's really important
to me. We tried to show him as much respect and loyalty as we
could...It's his concept to do Bat Out of Hell III."
Still, despite the fact that he is now apparently welcome to use the
phrase, the rocker hedged on whether or not he would release a fourth
installment to the album franchise.
"I don't know how anybody
could live through it," he said. "I don't think I have the time, I don't
think the years will allow it."
|
