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OZZfest acts sue media companies over pay-per-view special
Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Godsmack and a host of other bands featured on last summer’s OZZfest tour have filed a joint $20 million lawsuit against several media companies that allegedly aired an OZZfest pay-per-view special on Nov. 10 without the artists’ consent, according to a statement issued by the tour’s publicity firm on Monday (11/20).
The artists named as plaintiffs in the suit--which also include Static-X, Methods of Mayhem, Soulfly, Kittie, Disturbed and Slaves on Dope--claim that Internet company MCY.com violated copyright and trademark laws, and did “irreparable damage” to the bands’ reputations, when it granted rights to DirecTV and InDEMAND to air footage of OZZfest's Sept. 2 concert in San Bernardino, Calif., according to the statement. DirecTV and InDEMAND are also named as defendants in the suit.
The statement explains that MCY.com was originally granted permission to film the concert and air it as an Internet webcast, an account that is backed up by a June press release posted on MCY’s website. The suit claims, however, that MCY instead entered into an agreement with DirecTV and InDemand to air the taped webcast footage as a pay-per-view special that debuted on Nov. 10.
The artists “are outraged over the inferior quality of the footage, which was not intended for television broadcast,” according to the statement. In the days leading up to the broadcast, a number of the bands posted messages on their official websites urging fans to boycott the broadcast, which sold for $20, according to an Allstar report.
Monday’s statement quotes MCY's CEO, Larry Stessel, as having responded to the artists’ objections to the pay-per-view special by saying, “Sue me, I don't care. I'd rather be sued by the bands than DirecTV and InDemand - they have more money. By the time this suit comes to court, MCY will probably be out of business anyway.''
A spokesperson for MCY told liveDaily that “that statement is not at all accurate.” The company issued a statement of its own on Monday, in which it claimed that it did, in fact, pay Osbourne Management--also a plaintiff in the suit--for both the webcast and pay-per-view rights to the concert footage.
