tkleist Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Just saw this on the tribune front page http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05...el-foxtrot.html Wilco ex-member sues frontman TweedyMay 4, 2009 5:54 PM | No Comments Former Wilco member Jay Bennett sued lead singer Jeff Tweedy in Cook County Circuit Court today, claiming Tweedy owes him money from the band's 2002 documentary and royalties on songs written during Bennett's seven years with the group. Bennett was part of the Chicago-based band from 1994 to 2001, the breach-of-contract suit states, and worked as a sound engineer and performed instruments on the albums "Being There," "Summerteeth," "Mermaid Avenue," "Mermaid Avenue Vol. II" and "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." The suit argues that "as a recording musician in Wilco, Bennett is entitled to compensation for his services rendered in the form of continuing and perpetual artist royalty payments from" Tweedy. It concedes that Bennett was paid during his years in the group, but only in "infrequent partial payments" equivalent to 15 percent of the band's income from sales and performances. Bennett claims Tweedy did not compensate him for his appearance in "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," which documented the creative process behind "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" in 2000 and captured a scene of Tweedy and Bennett bickering over the mixing of "Heavy Metal Drummer." The suit argues that Bennett was never paid for his role and that Tweedy "never obtained the necessary releases for the use of Bennett's performance in the film." It was unclear if Tweedy was a producer on the project, as the suit claims. Bennett left Wilco in August 2001. "It was time for Jay to move on and have a bigger role in making his own music," Tweedy said at the time. "Jay has been a huge part of the last three records, but it just became more obvious to us that he didn't have the same enthusiasm for being a part of the band. It took a lot of bravery on both parts to make this happen, and we moved past any hard feelings really fast." The lawsuit asks for damages of at least $50,000. -- Andrew L. Wang Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Well, times are desperate for Jay. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OOO Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Finally, some much needed drama! This will put to rest any rumors of a benefit concert with Wilco headlining, I'm afraid. Obviously I have no idea of the particulars of the case, but it seems like Jay should definitely be getting royalties of some sort, although as far as the movie is concerned, I thought that was all Sam Jones's deal. I suppose we'll see. Hopefully Jay gets enough money for surgery one way or the other. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spongebob Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 this makes me sad..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shakespeare In The Alley Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I said this in the other thread, but this is a bitch move by Jay. It's not like IATTBYH came out a few weeks ago. The fact that he's just filing this now makes him look like a complete ass who's trying to mine the slight link he still has to the Wilco catalogue. I don't know how much he'll get in this case. It would need to be proven that Jeff hasn't been paying Jay for royalties on the songs he co-created. Seems like that could be a hard case to argue, especially since the issue seems to be how much Jay was paid. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wilconut Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Wow, that Jay Bennett is quite a shit. I mean a really big shit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uncool2pillow Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 My sense of things is that Tony M. is a pretty meticulous and effective manager. I'd be somewhat -- though not completely -- surprised if this suit doesn't go very far. Whatever the case, I hope justice prevails for both. It is sad, but a fact of life. Wilco is a business. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RainDogToo Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 That's all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wilco Worshipper Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 That's all.Ditto. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Hey All, Well, I feel bad for Jay Bennett. I've read about his recent health issues. But this lawsuit doesn't make much sense. I know from being an extra in 2 motion pictures (in order to be paid you need sign an agreement form to provide your services to be shown even as a background extra) and doing some college films that getting/obtaining permission is something I'm pretty sure Sam Jones and Trixiefilms got from Jay Bennett. I mean he was being filmed for a documentary. Otherwise, if this was an issue back than we probably wouldn't have seen IATTBYH. Furthermore, this seems like an obvious attack on Jeff and not on Wilco's manager who is not mentioned and who I'm pretty sure is well aware of all of Wilco's business handling. I have no idea though if Bennett wasn't paid his royalties. Nor is this my business to know that. I'm just putting in my .02 cents because the headline makes it out like he's after Tweedy and not Wilco's management and/or Sam Jones and Trixiefilms. You can almost say he's making Jeff seem bigger than Tony M. and Sam Jones. Kristofor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrRain422 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I would speculate that I was not there and probably don't have enough information to make a judgement on this one way or the other. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
So Long Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I would speculate that I was not there and probably don't have enough information to make a judgement on this one way or the other. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jules Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I would speculate that I was not there and probably don't have enough information to make a judgement on this one way or the other.The timing is peculiar, though. If he was getting screwed all these years, why wait until now? He's fishing for some kind of settlement. Sad, yes, but desperate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrRain422 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 The timing is peculiar, though. If he was getting screwed all these years, why wait until now? He's fishing for some kind of settlement. Sad, yes, but desperate. It's certainly possible. But it's also possible that he was actually entitled to those royalties all this time, but didn't want to go through the public whipping he's going to receive at the hands of Wilco fans until he needed the money so much that it didn't matter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jules Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 It's certainly possible. But it's also possible that he was actually entitled to those royalties all this time, but didn't want to go through the public whipping he's going to receive at the hands of Wilco fans until he needed the money so much that it didn't matter.Well, then they should remove his balls when they fix his hip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OOO Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Well, then they should remove his balls when they fix his hip. Not to nitpick, but shouldn't the joke be that they are going to surgically add testicles onto him? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Lawsuits often occur years after. It takes awhile for some things to sink in, particularly if there is money involved. (Didn't Bessie Smith's family get some dough from Columbia Records not TOO many years back? LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yermom Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 That's all. Ditto. Tritto. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ction Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Wow, that Jay Bennett is quite a shit. I mean a really big shit. Great post! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Central Scrutinizer Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 The timing is peculiar, though. If he was getting screwed all these years, why wait until now? He's fishing for some kind of settlement. Sad, yes, but desperate.Peculiar? The band just released a DVD that hit #1 on Billboard and is getting mounting visibility for an album coming out in two months. I'll be blunt about it. If this was a legal move and he sought to obtain losses, he should go after the label and after the group's management. If his name is on the songs, his publishing company needs to go after proceeds. In that movie he wasn't paid for, they showed Tweedy signing the contracts for the album. It seems that was Bennett's time and place to challenge the rights to songs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigWheeledWagon Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Lawsuits often occur years after. Hence the enactment of many and various statutes of limitations. While there could be various factors at play that could toll any applicable statute of limitation in this case, 8-9 years is a dangerously long time to wait (though, it's not clear how long it's been since the time of the last payment he claims to be due or what he is claiming Jeff's contractual obligations were to him). It also seems a little strange that he's suing Jeff personally. I would have assumed that Tony would have organized Wilco/Jeff into some sort of corporate entity (an LLC or something -- not really sure, I suck at anything related to business/business law) so that Jeff wouldn't be personally liable for business issues. Also, it doesn't look like Jay's trying to claim any copyright issues (these are the suits that usually pop way after the fact due to the lengthy term of a copyright) -- he's looking for straight-up performance royalties. Tony seems to know what he's doing (and we know from the film he has what appears to be a pretty good lawyer), and performance royalties tend to be handled contractually (the contract with Nonesuch was obviously just with Jeff, so he's figuring out the cut with the band -- not sure what the deal was with Reprise, but I imagine it was the same). So, again, 8 or 9 years is a long time to wait to try to enforce a contract. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duck-Billed Catechist Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I would speculate that I was not there and probably don't have enough information to make a judgement on this one way or the other.No way. Everyone on here is an expert in entertainment law. A bit more info here: http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/musi...-050409.article Quote Link to post Share on other sites
giraffo Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I have a feeling that the fact it says he's suing Jeff Tweedy is mostly a case of stupid reporting. Jeff Tweedy's not even the one who pays him, and I doubt he produced any part of YHF or the doc. However, the reporting of the situation is very broad and leaves a lot of holes. But who knows, we werent there, so it's definitely possible he got screwed. It's just a little bit of weird timing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jesusetc84 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 There are also a few songs on AGIB and SBS that Jay might have co-written. "Wishful Thinking" was written around the time of Foxtrot and there's a tape of Jay playing on it. It's possible that he had something to do with it. "Impossible Germany" also dates back to the Jay Bennett era (circa- Summerteeth) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yermom Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 No way. Everyone on here is an expert in entertainment law. Not me, but I am an expert on douchiness! (Not that I'm calling anyone a douche or anything. Like most of us, I wasn't there.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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