Andy Scott sues a fan
Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:07 pm
Andy Scott (Sweet) Sues Fan, Loses $78K
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/andy-sco ... d-cd-sale/
Andy Scott, guitarist for the Sweet, got more than he bargained for when he tried to sue an EBay customer for selling a used CD from his band, and now faces a whopping $78,000 legal bill.
The disc in question, titled The Legend Lives On, was at first claimed by Scott to be a bootleg item. According to the UK Daily Mail, the seller, Dietmar Huber from western Austria, said he was “flabbergasted” when he received a letter from a German lawyer accusing him of breaching Sweet’s and Andy Scott’s copyright, along with a bill for 2000 Euros (approximately $2500).
Huber refused to take down the item, which was later proven to be an authentic release, so Scott filed an injunction to stop the sale of the item. The guitarist demanded 36,000 Euros ($45,000) in compensation, claiming he owned copyright on the name and that Dietman Huber did not have the right to sell the CD. Scott took the case all the way to the Austrian high court, apparently hoping for a real Blockbuster.
Now, after a five-year legal battle, the Austrian high court has ruled in favor of Huber, declaring it to be a private sale, and that no crime was ever committed. In return, the bill for the court hearing, along with Huber’s legal expenses, will now have to be paid by Scott. Which leaves the Sweet guitarist with a £50,000 bill for legal fees from the ordeal. That’s around $78,000! That’s an awful lot of Ballroom Blitz downloads to sell, huh?
What makes this all the more tragic is the price the CD sold for on E-Bay… it brought in a whopping 1 Euro (about one dollar and twenty five cents).
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/andy-sco ... d-cd-sale/
Andy Scott, guitarist for the Sweet, got more than he bargained for when he tried to sue an EBay customer for selling a used CD from his band, and now faces a whopping $78,000 legal bill.
The disc in question, titled The Legend Lives On, was at first claimed by Scott to be a bootleg item. According to the UK Daily Mail, the seller, Dietmar Huber from western Austria, said he was “flabbergasted” when he received a letter from a German lawyer accusing him of breaching Sweet’s and Andy Scott’s copyright, along with a bill for 2000 Euros (approximately $2500).
Huber refused to take down the item, which was later proven to be an authentic release, so Scott filed an injunction to stop the sale of the item. The guitarist demanded 36,000 Euros ($45,000) in compensation, claiming he owned copyright on the name and that Dietman Huber did not have the right to sell the CD. Scott took the case all the way to the Austrian high court, apparently hoping for a real Blockbuster.
Now, after a five-year legal battle, the Austrian high court has ruled in favor of Huber, declaring it to be a private sale, and that no crime was ever committed. In return, the bill for the court hearing, along with Huber’s legal expenses, will now have to be paid by Scott. Which leaves the Sweet guitarist with a £50,000 bill for legal fees from the ordeal. That’s around $78,000! That’s an awful lot of Ballroom Blitz downloads to sell, huh?
What makes this all the more tragic is the price the CD sold for on E-Bay… it brought in a whopping 1 Euro (about one dollar and twenty five cents).