NEW YORK (Dead Kennedys PR/announcement) - East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and D.H. Peligro from the seminal punk rock band Dead Kennedys, announced today that all legal action has been dropped in all the counter suits filed against them by Alternative Tentacles Records, owned by former lead singer Jello Biafra. After 6 long years, the case is over.
By dropping all legal action against Dead Kennedys, the San Francisco Superior Court's earlier decision at a jury trial in May 2000 is now final. The record label and Biafra were convicted of knowingly and fraudulently shortchanging his former band. The jury awarded the band compensatory and punitive damages totaling more than $200,000.
"This case is no different from blues musicians being taken advantage of by record labels in the twenties and thirties," said Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray. "Many people doubted the claims we made against our former record label back in 1998 but with this announcement there is no denying we were the victims here. Now maybe it's time for Klaus, D.H., Biafra, and myself to move on with our lives - more music and less lawyers!"
"Personally and professionally, I just want to put this entire chapter behind us and concentrate on making music again," said Dead Kennedys bassist Klaus Flouride. "The real winners in this case were the lawyers and that is something we hoped would never happen. I don't know if it is possible but I hope that everyone can now bury the hatchet."
"The band is finally free of being hounded by our former record label for just trying to make things fair," said drummer D.H. Peligro. "It's time to move on."
It has been more than four years since the San Francisco Superior Court ruling. The California Court of Appeals in June 2003 unanimously upheld all the verdicts against Alternative Tentacles and Biafra; everything in their appeal was denied. The record label in its appeal did not dispute that it acted deceptively. In contrast, the court did overturn the one verdict againstEast Bay Ray. The label had sought to overturn more than 20 years of band history and take sole control of Dead Kennedys by breaking up the band partnership, known as Decay Music. The ruling means that all band members will continue to maintain the band's two-decade old partnership with all four members, including Biafra, sharing equally in ownership and control of the bands' creative works.
When the original trial began in 1998, the band's motives were questioned by some in the media and the punk community who had been lured into believing many fabricated statements made by Alternative Tentacles. The tactic used by the label was an attemptto turn any statement of fact into a question of motive.
The band was accused of wanting to profit from a mythical television commercial, yet they have never allowed their music in a commercial. The band was accused of greed, yet it was the label that took money from them. The band was accused of wanting to sign to a major record label, yet they signed to independent label Manifesto Records. The band was accused of wanting to destroy their former record label, yet the label is still in business. All these claims against the band were false from the beginning.
Since taking control of the Dead Kennedys catalog following the trial court's judgment in January 2001, the band has remastered and reissued their entire back catalog on both CD and vinyl. The band has also released their first live record, MUTINY ON THE BAY, a compilation of tracks recorded from 1982-1986 on Manifesto Records as well as the Target Video, DEAD KENNEDYS - EARLY YEARS LIVE DVD via Music Video Distributors. A new DVD, DEAD KENNEDYS, IN GOD WE TRUST, INC. - THE LOST TAPES (MVD) and live recording from 1979 entitled LIVE AT THE DEAF CLUB were released on CD from Manifesto Records in late 2003/early 2004.
Since reissuing the band's catalog in 2001 with superior, remastered sound and original artwork, music fans everywhere have recognized the improvement and continue to purchase more Dead Kennedys' CDs than they ever did on the band's previous label.
