Rock Icons Sue Website Operator Over Streaming Concerts, Memorabilia Sales

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 19, 2006 - 6:04am.

San Francisco - A group of rock icons -- including Carlos Santana and members of the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and The Doors -- have sued the operator of a website for distributing allegedly unauthorized vintage recordings and memorabilia originally collected by legendary Bay Area concert promoter Bill Graham.

William Sagan operates WolfgangsVault.com, which streams concerts recorded at venues including Graham's Fillmore and Winterland, and sells original and reprinted posters, T-shirts and other memorabilia from the 1960's-era shows. Sagan acquired Graham's assets from Clear Channel Entertainment in 2003 for $5 million.

"Sagan simply doesn't have the legal rights to exploit and profit from the extraordinary success of these musicians," said Jeff Reeves, who represents the musicians. "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."

Related Links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061218/lam078.html?.v=71
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-wolfgang12nov12,0,1279765.story
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Graham
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com