Lay down, Eric ...

[uwe]

The mind bell-boggles-blows:

https://www.stereogum.com/2171005/eric-clapton-successfully-sued-a-woman-who-tried-to-sell-a-bootleg-cd-on-ebay/news/

She was no professional seller, the CD was in the estate of her deceased husband (let's face it, I have never met a woman who could tell a bootleg from a legitimate CD release, it's like asking a guy what the difference between maroon and brown is - there is of course none), in the 90ies German CD shops were awash with dubious live recordings (often US radio shows) of established artists. The court did what it had to do, but having the nerve to sue her with his Doberman Pinscher of an IP protection cease & desist robber baron law boutique (they have a horrible reputation for doing this in Germany) ...

Blackmore's first name might be Richard, but Clapton is a true dick.

[gearHed289]

I read this story a few days ago. Unbelievable. What's wrong with that guy?

[westen44]

I have no idea why Clapton has chosen to become Scrooge as her enters the last phase of his career.  No idea at all. 

[4stringer77]

Eric knows this doesn't look good on his part and has released a statement on his official site addressing the situation.

https://www.whereseric.com/eric-clapton-news/303-german-bootleg-case-statement

[westen44]

Hopefully, that will make things not look as bad.  Because you've got to admit targeting a widow during Christmas season isn't the kind of thing anyone would want to be known for.  The timing is pretty bad to say the least. 

[Dave W]

Perhaps Ebenezer Scrooge was one of his ancestors.

[uwe]

Ok, some good PR advice there, better late than never. Old Slowhand is quick to backtrack.

But it's not just taking this to litigation that costs money. Even giving an immediate voluntary declaration after a cease and desist letter from attorneys will still make you liable for their fees. Those fees are taken from a statutory fee table based on the amount at issue - and the amount at issue would not be the negligible value of the CD but the value of the artist's right to not have it sold on the market as an infringement of his intellectual property. Courts by tradition assume that value to be EUR 50.000 at least, so that value triggers the attorneys' fees which can mean between EUR 1.000 and EUR 2.000 (including VAT) for EC's lawyers even if you submit to their demands immediately. If you refuse to pay them, they will sue you for their fees (and win on the basis that you gave them/their client the declaration). 'Mining' people for statutory fee reimbursement via cease and desist letters is the chief business of some IP law firms - it's a national plague. Clapton's law firm is especially notorious (they handle other artists as well).