Pick a Day

Music History Events: Legal Issues

June 4, 1985 Elton John begins a high court battle with Dick James Music, seeking the rights to early songs and recordings plus damages estimated at more than $51 million.

April 6, 1985 Gilbert O'Sullivan wins a two-million-dollar judgment against his manager, Gordon Mills, for royalties owed him on his 1972 smash "Alone Again (Naturally)."

February 24, 1985 David Crosby escapes from Fair Oaks Hospital in New Jersey, where he has been sentenced to drug rehab. The next day, he is caught in Greenwich Village and arrested for cocaine possession.

November 2, 1984 Marvin Gay Sr., father of singer Marvin Gaye (who added the e when he joined Motown) is found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of his son, but courts rule the action was taken in self-defense, and the elder Gay is given five years' probation.

July 23, 1984 An appeals court overturnes a ruling that the Bee Gees plagiarized a song called "Let It End" on their hit "How Deep Is Your Love." The judge agrees that there are "striking similarities" between the two songs, but believes the Bee Gees claim that they hadn't heard "Let It End," which was never released and only available as a demo sent to publishers. The case puts the onus on plaintiffs to prove that defendants had access to songs they are accused of copying.

August 8, 1983 Harold Melvin and three members of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes are arrested for cocaine, marijuana, and meth possession at Caesars Boardwalk Regency Hotel Casino in Atlantic City.

May 12, 1983 Meat Loaf files for bankruptcy.

March 15, 1983 Cathy Smith is arrested for second-degree murder for providing the drugs that killed John Belushi.

October 7, 1982 Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is given a one-year suspended sentence for cocaine possession.

May 6, 1982 Tom Paton, manager of the Bay City Rollers, is convicted of gross indecency with teenage boys and sentenced to three years in jail.

March 11, 1982 Jimmy Sohns of the Shadows of Knight is arrested for distributing cocaine.

August 14, 1981 Four years after Elvis Presley's untimely death, a Memphis judge rules that his estate is no longer financially beholden to his manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker.

April 20, 1981 John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas is sentenced to five years for helping a Los Angeles-area pharmacist sell fake prescriptions, as well as drug possession. His sentence will be reduced to one month, however, after he agrees to perform 250 hours of community service in the form of anti-drug lectures.

February 19, 1981 ABKCO Music, owner of the publishing rights to the Chiffons hit "He's So Fine," is awarded $587,000 from George Harrison, who was found guilty of subconsciously plagiarizing the song in his composition "My Sweet Lord."

October 6, 1980 The Bee Gees sue their former manager Robert Stigwood for $136 million, claiming unpaid royalties and fraud. The group alleges that contracts they signed with Stigwood in 1968 were predatory and unfair, and that they were too young to understand what they were signing. The suit is eventually settled out of court.

July 31, 1980 The Mamas & The Papas founder and vocalist "Papa" John Phillips is arrested for possession of cocaine and running a phony prescription scam with a local pharmacy and eventually sentenced to eight years in prison (though this sentence would later be reduced to 30 days in jail and community service).

July 14, 1980 Former Beatles and Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein begins a two-month jail term for income tax evasion.

July 2, 1980 Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart and Bob Weir are arrested and charged with inciting a riot at San Diego Sports Arena to break up a drug bust.

May 16, 1980 Elvis Presley's doctor, George Nichopoulous, is arrested for abusing his licence to prescribe controlled drugs. Nichopoulous wrote Elvis prescriptions for over 10,000 doses of narcotics in 1977, the year Elvis died). He is acquitted, but in 1992 the Tennessee Medical Board revokes his license.

March 19, 1980 In proceedings against the doctor who supplied the prescription drugs that killed Elvis Presley, Elvis' autopsy is entered as evidence. Dr. George Nichopoulos, who was known as "Dr. Nick" is eventually found guilty of overprescribing the drugs.

February 3, 1980 Studio 54 throws one last bash with A-list regulars Diana Ross, Andy Warhol and Richard Gere before the owners, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, go to jail for tax evasion.

January 25, 1980 Paul McCartney is released and deported from Japan after spending nine days in a Tokyo jail. He was arrested at the airport when customs officials found 219 grams of marijuana in his luggage.

January 18, 1980 Famous Southern-rock record label Capricorn files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

January 18, 1980 Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager are sentenced to 3 ½ years in jail on charges of tax evasion, which soon brings the legendary disco to an end.

January 16, 1980 Paul McCartney packs about half a pound of marijuana in his luggage, which lands him 10 days in a Tokyo jail upon arrival. He had the weed in New York and wanted to bring it with him to smoke on tour, saying, "This stuff was too good to flush down the toilet, so I thought I'd take it with me."

November 29, 1979 Paul Simon hits his record label, CBS, with two lawsuits in an attempt to break his contract.

November 23, 1979 Marianne Faithfull is arrested at the Oslo, Norway, airport for possession of marijuana.

November 18, 1979 Chuck Berry is released from Lompoc Prison in California after serving a four-month sentence for tax evasion.

October 18, 1979 Police break up a 15-man robbery ring set up in the parking lot of Madison Square Garden during an Earth, Wind & Fire concert at the venue.

July 10, 1979 Chuck Berry is sentenced to jail for tax evasion. He would serve four months.