Legal advice??? Ex-members/ court etc (my other band..)

[Melb_shredder]

So here's a quick run down and I'm curious if anyone has any insight...
The band I recently joined (who's album I recorded before joining) is facing some legal issues.
During the recording process, their singer called it quits, actively left on his own accord, that was the end of it. Didn't hear from him sonce them. The vocalist did not write a single lyric, melody or piece of musical. He was purely the performance side of the writing that is 100% written by the bassist/ guitarist (cofounders of the band).
Now, I've joined as second guitarist and another dude joined as vocalist. The guys have decided to rerecord vocals with the NEW vocalist because what's the point of releasing the album wit the old vocals right?

Upon the announcement of this news the old vocalist says he wants the money back he put towards recording the album etc. the band gave him a copy of Ye mixed album with HIS but straight up stated the official version will be with the new singer.

Now my good friend (lead guitarist/ main man) has a court summons in regards to this issue.

My first reaction... WTF??? Does this guy actually have ANY legal leg to stand on? From my limited knowledge I'm struggling to see what could give him right to anything out of it.

Any thoughts would be appreciated if you've any similar experience etc

 

[Skinny Viking]

my 1st thoughts are that even though he doesn't have any "intellectual property" claim (lyrics, melodies, etc he wrote that will still be used) if he did put money into the actual recording, regardless of whether he quit or not, he's probably entitled to some if not all of that back. Unless he had some kind of partnership agreement with the band stating that he forfeits everything upon leaving of his own accord

Giving him a copy of the album with his vocals on it is nice and all but if he equally contributed to the recording cost then he has a right to recoup some of that based on the band still using the rest of what was paid for

now if he only contributed to the recording costs of his own vocals, yeah, he probably ain't got a leg to stand on

 

[amarshism]

You'll be fine, guy sounds like a dick and I'm surprised he's making it to small claims.

 

[J-Mac]

Can you get a claim for legal fees, or sue for malicious prosecution in Australian small claims? If you can I would do so - the counter suit may scare him off. A sit down with a lawyer is a costly endeavor, but seeing that he's been served would be a worthwhile expense at this point.

 

[Sloan]

You'll be fine, guy sounds like a dick and I'm surprised he's making it to small claims.

This is what I'm thinking. How did it even get to court?

 

[amarshism]

Name and shame, let's cook the guy.

 

[smy1]

Sometimes practicality makes it very easy to solve these things: if the guy has no documentation/invoices/etc. he doesn't even have legal proof he paid for the recording.

Since he was not a writer, he was most likely not an "organizer" in the band either, which means he most likely does not have any paperwork to prove he ever payed ...

 

[Jind]

It's all going to come down to whether his name is on any contracts for services or payments. If this was all handled without contracts or a understanding/agreement that if someone backed out they were entitled to something I don't see how he has any standing to demand his portion back. Sure he can claim he is owed, but without proof that it was agreed upon prior to him putting money forward. It's like loaning a family member money hoping they will repay you - if you don;t take some official action to document the transaction it's really just pissing in the wind if they don't pay you back.

Not sure how the Australian courts handle small claims cases which this sounds like (forgive me if I'm underestimating the amount in dispute), but by bring forward some sort of action he is probably just hoping the rest of the band will cave prior to it going to court. I'm sure he found an attorney who told him it can't hurt to try.

Hope it works out for you.

 

[Jind]

Sometimes practicality makes it very easy to solve these things: if the guy has no documentation/invoices/etc. he doesn't even have legal proof he paid for the recording.

Since he was not a writer, he was most likely not an "organizer" in the band either, which means he most likely does not have any paperwork to prove he ever payed ...

We were typing essentially same thing at the same time

 

[drew_drummer]

Even if he has paperwork, without some sort of agreement that he'd see a refund if he left the band, he's shit out of luck AFAIK.

 

[Melb_shredder]

Thanks guys! That's exactly what I have been thinking so far. Nope, no contract no nothing within the band. All payments for recording were made out to the main guitarist/ writer of the band. The other dude is quite literally on nothing.

I was also in the same mentality as some of you that it's like giving money to a family member as HOPING they pay you back. There's no agreement stipulating they will, you just assume.
This asstard put money into something and was happy to ditch, never asked for a cent. Now that he sees people are interested and excited about the release he thinks he can make a buck. Pathetic!

Cheers guys, I'll let you know how it goes for my mate! The poor kid bearly has a cent to his name as it is and really doesn't need an asshole like this making shit worse at the moment!

 

[Grå Värld]

Maybe if he was just the performance only vocalist he is claiming payment for his services to record the vocals on the release even if his vocals will not be used in the final release. This will probably be sent to mediation or dismissed as their is no specific evidence of a contract. Make sure your mate sees a lawyer so he doesn't get pushed around by the ex vocalists lawyer who is probably on a no win no pay deal.

 

[John_C]

Irrelevant of his creative role or lack of, I don't see how he has any leg to stand on unless there was some written agreement about it.