Eagles' Don Henley Sues Band for Return of 'Hotel California' Handwritten Lyrics
- Don Henley, Eagles singer, has filed a lawsuit to retrieve his handwritten song notes for 'Hotel California'.
- The lyrics are from the band's famous album 'Hotel California'.
- Henley claims the pages were stolen and seeks their return through legal action.
In a recent development, Eagles singer Don Henley has taken legal action by filing a lawsuit in New York to reclaim his handwritten notes and song lyrics from the iconic "Hotel California" album. Henley asserts that these personal lyric sheets were stolen and unauthorized for profit. The lawsuit follows the dismissal of criminal charges against three individuals accused of involvement in selling the documents, including rare books dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, and rock memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski. The album "Hotel California," released in 1977, remains one of the top-selling albums in the U.S. Henley's lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, emphasized that the lyric sheets rightfully belong to Henley and his family, refuting any authorization for their commercial use. The handwritten pages are currently under the custody of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, with no official comment provided on the ongoing litigation. Legal representatives for Kosinski and Inciardi have dismissed the lawsuit as unfounded, citing Henley's alleged misleading of prosecutors by withholding crucial information. During the trial, the defendants' lawyers argued that Henley had given the lyrics pages to a writer working on an unpublished Eagles biography, who later sold them to Horowitz. Subsequently, the pages were passed on to Inciardi and Kosinski for auctioning in 2012. The abrupt dismissal of the criminal case was attributed to the late disclosure of 6,000 pages of communications involving Henley and his legal team, leading to claims of manipulation and obfuscation. The defense highlighted that this material was only shared after Henley waived attorney-client privilege at the eleventh hour. The legal battle surrounding the ownership and sale of these valuable documents continues to unfold, with conflicting narratives from both sides. As the lawsuit progresses, the intricate details of the case and the authenticity of the handwritten notes remain central to the dispute, underscoring the complexities of intellectual property rights and historical preservation in the music industry.