Editorial: Bennett and Tweedy At It Again
The AP is reporting that former Wilco multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett is suing Jeff Tweedy for breach of contract surrounding payment for Bennett’s appearance in the 2002 documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.
[via Rockpalast Archive]
Bennett, who was in Wilco from 1994-2001 and contributed to Being There,
Now, I am certainly no copyright attorney. And I’m equally no expert on how actors and musicians are paid for their work in movies. So I’m not going to pontificate on what Bennett is legally entitled to. But aren’t there clear laws about this? Could the movie have even come out if Bennett hadn’t signed some agreements to determine compensation? What about Leroy Bach, who was also in the band during the filming of the movie but has subsequently been replaced – has he been paid more/less than Bennett for the movie?
READ ON for more of Luke’s thoughts on Bennett’s lawsuit…
The film is over six years old at this point. It seems as though Bennett, who hasn’t been shy about publicly complaining he has been cut out of his slice of the Wilco pie, was waiting for the band’s star to rise to its zenith (and its most financially lucrative point) before going after them officially and legally. If this was really about royalties and giving credit where it’s due, wouldn’t he have brought this lawsuit on long ago?
It also strikes me as weird that Tweedy is the one being sued instead of Nonesuch Records or the Production Company or some sort of LLC. In the credits for I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Tweedy is not among the 12 producers or executive producers listed. However Sam Jones, who both produced and directed the film, which pretty much portrays Bennett as a pain in the ass, is not named in the lawsuit. That screams “personal vendetta” to me.
Tweedy and Bennett perform Cars Can’t Escape
Whatever the case, I’m sure the lawyers will reach some agreement and a check will exchange hands. And I guess it should come as no surprise that two guys who argued about everything, most glaringly the four second introduction to Heavy Metal Drummer as so brilliantly captured in the movie, would eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the scales of justice for one last fight.
Now imagine this multiplied by like 10,000 and you’ll realize why Axl is currently such a freak… (previously it was because of drugs and an off-kilter personality)
Also, Yo La Tengo is going to support the Keyspan show.
I’m not a lawyer either but hypothetically if he is legally entitled to that 50k, the fact that he waited for Wilco’s pockets to deepen shouldn’t make him any less or more entitled
I don’t know the details of any of this either, but it’s not that far fetched that it took a long time to raise the issue. Usually in these deals, the record companies and producers need to recoup all their money before the band ever gets paid, so it it conceivable that he didn’t figure it out right away that he was not paid properly.
Quote from Tweedy via Paste Magazine via his publicist,
“I know exactly as much as everyone else does. I’ve read the news and I honestly have no idea what these claims are based on. It was such a long time ago. Aside from everything else, I’m being sued for not paying someone for appearing in a movie I didn’t produce. Go figure. I am truly sad it has come to this. I am equally convinced, however, that I have done nothing wrong and that this will be handled fairly and swiftly.”
Although Bennett is pain in the ass- they haven’t made an album as good as Being There, Summerteeth or YHF since he left…..
Although I like AGIB & SBS a lot, I’m not quite sure why people think Bennett should get so much credit for previous albums. He hasn’t made any worthwhile music since he was in Wilco. What has made and continues to make Wilco great is the dynamic between Jeff and his collaborators, whomever they may be at the time…Jay Farrar, Jay Bennett, Woody Guthrie, Jim O’Rourke, Glen & Nels.
Regardless, the lawsuit is laughable, baseless, and will go nowhere.
This suit will be tossed out of court in weeks.
His attorney may face sanctions. You have to do **some** research before you sue someone, attorneys are required to do their due diligence before filing suit.
Suing “someone for appearing in a movie [that that someone] didn’t produce” is inexcusable and makes Bennett and his counsel look foolish. A quick motion to dismiss will get rid of this frivolous shit.
Also, if you want money, you sue a fucking corporation like Luke said. Every *good* attorney knows this and truthfully Bennett would have a much better case both in terms of legitimacy in court and settlement opportunity.
Tim Donahue may want to rethink this whole lawyering thing.
Jeff never collaborated with Wood Guthrie dood
He did, in the sense that Woody was certainly a lyrical collaborator, numbnuts. I wasn’t saying that the ghost of Woody had risen to make a couple of albums with Tweedy, but if that is what you inferred, good luck to you in life.
Isn’t he siuing for royalties owed to him him, from the albums he was on as well? (Which were Wilco’s best imo)I don’t think this is all about the movie….