[Update:] Die Klage von Glenn Danzig gegen Jerry Only wurde jetzt von Only als Versuch von Danzig sich unfair zu bereichern bezeichnet.

Der Basser der Misfits gab gegenüber altpress.com ein Statement ab, in dem er erklärt, er habe sich 1995 zusammen mit Cyclopian Music alle Rechte an den Misfits, dem Merchandise der Band und dem Logo gesichert. Gleichzeitig, so Only, soll Danzig geäußert haben, er wolle nicht mehr mit den geschäftlichen Tätigkeiten der Misfits in Verbindung gebracht werden.

Hier das Statement von Jerry Only:

„In 1995, Misfits founding member Jerry Only secured the exclusive legal right to tour and record as the Misfits, and, in accordance with those legal rights, launched a licensing program through Cyclopian Music.  At the same time, Glenn Anzalone—professionally known as Glenn Danzig (former co-founder and Misfits vocalist circa 1977 to 1983) —made clear that he wanted no public association with the Misfits or Cyclopian Music’s business endeavors.  

Despite full knowledge of Cyclopian Music’s use of the Misfits’ name and logos for decades, Glenn Danzig curiously filed a lawsuit on April 3rd, 2014 seeking a portion of the proceeds from Cyclopian Music’s activities with which he has had no involvement whatsoever.  Danzig’s lawsuit can only be described as a sour grapes tantrum based on outrageous allegations, the majority of which are completely false, while others are ill conceived and grossly misguided—and will be proven false in court.  Reports of Glenn Danzig’s lawsuit and the falsehoods within it, however, have resulted in the dissemination of misinformation regarding the nature of Glenn Danzig’s baseless claims and Cyclopian Music’s rights.    

For example, Jerry Only and Cyclopian are under no obligation, legal, contractual or otherwise, to obtain consent, or approvals of any kind, from former member Glenn Danzig in connection with their use of the Misfits name or logos. Apparently Danzig’s own product line doesn’t sell as well as he might like, but the fact of the matter remains that Jerry Only and Cyclopian Music’s Misfits licenses, business activity and merchandising endeavors are 100% lawful and consistent with their legal rights. 

To be clear, Glenn Danzig has no legal right to, and no interest in, Cyclopian’s Misfits licenses or business ventures period. Danzig’s lawsuit is nothing more than a calculated attempt to unfairly and improperly enrich himself from revenue streams to which he is not entitled.“

—Misfits/Misfits Records

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[Originalmeldung vom 07.05.2014:] Glenn Danzig war von 1977 bis 1983 Sänger der Misfits und schloss 1994 einen Vertrag mit der Band, die die verbliebenden Musiker verpflichtete, ihn an allen Merchandise-Verkäufen zu beteiligen.

Angeblich hat Bassist Jerry Only, bürgerlich Gerrard Caiafa, bereits im Jahr 2000 alle Rechte an den Trademarks der Misfits auf sich übertragen lassen, wodurch Glenn Danzig keinerlei Geld aus jeglichen Verkäufen der Band erhielt.

Die Summe die Danzig dadurch angeblich vorenthalten wurde, beläuft sich nach Aussagen des Sängers auf etwa 54.000€ plus Zinsen.

Laut Anklageschrift habe Caiafa auch keinem der Geschäftspartner von dem 1994 geschlossenen Vertrag zwischen den Misfits erzählt, sondern immer nur sich als einzigen Inhaber der Marke Misfits angegeben.

So liest sich die Anklageschrift im Original:

“Caiafa‘s misrepresentations have proximately caused injury to Danzig by causing merchandisers not to do business with him, and have deceived consumers as to the source of merchandise bearing the Marks, because the vast majority of the Misfits fans associate the Marks with the 1977-1983 classic Misfits era when Danzig was the creative heart of the Misfits, and not with Caiafa‘s imitation Misfits.“

“Caiafa has prevented and continues to prevent other retailers, including Hot Topic, which is the largest retailer of the Misfits products, from entering into licenses with Danzig and/or his designee to merchandise products bearing the Fiend Skull and other Marks by falsely instructing the merchandisers that he is the exclusive owner of the Marks, and that, if they enter into a license agreement with Danzig to exploit the Marks, they must pay Caiafa a license fee and/or a significant monetary penalty.”

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