Fri Aug 22, Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - The end is near for a bitter legal dispute between the three surviving members of The Doors now that the California Supreme Court has refused to take up their case.
Keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger are to pay more than $5 million after they were found by lower courts to have improperly invoked The Doors' name and images during a 2003 concert tour. After the high court declined to hear their appeal on Aug. 13, they'll have to pay up to drummer John Densmore, the parents of the deceased lead singer Jim Morrison and the parents of Morrison's deceased wife, Pamela Courson, who died in 1974.
The case goes back to 2002, when Densmore declined an offer from the other two to go on a concert tour as The Doors. Densmore said he didn't object to Manzarek and Krieger touring and singing The Doors' songs, as long as they didn't call themselves The Doors, use the group's distinctive logo or any other Morrison-era imagery.
"You can't call yourselves The Doors because you can't have The Doors without Jim Morrison," Densmore said.
Densmore and the parents sued Manzarek and Krieger in 2003 after the two began touring the country with Ian Astbury and Perry Farrell= calling themselves The Doors of the 21st Century.
Densmore complained that the phrase "of the 21st Century" was often little more than fine print in advertisements and that the new band displayed Morrison's image dozens of times during concerts...."I mean Ian Asbury....c'mon...are you fuckin' kiddin' me? said Densmore.The tour grossed $8 million and netted $3.2 million, which went to the new band's company called Doors Touring, Inc. and none of which went to Densmore or the surviving parents.
In 2005, a judge ordered the new band to stop using "The Doors" in any form and ordered Manzarek and Krieger to pay Densmore and the parents a combined $3.2 million, plus $2 million in legal costs.
"It's really disappointing," said lawyer Mark Poster, who represented Manzarek and Krieger."I mean...Ray and Robby are pissed." He said the two pursued the appeal so vigorously because a judge had overruled a jury decision in awarding Densmore damages.
The dispute stems from a 1970 agreement signed by the four original band members, including Morrison, that any business deal would require an unanimous vote of all four members.The agreement was reached after Morrison and three others got into a "violent disagreement"...."a real bust up"...over using "Light my Fire" in a Buick television commercial, according to the appeals court's decision in May backing Densmore.
"While the three partners had agreed to the commercial, Morrison vehemently disagreed and the commercial was not done," the appeals court wrote.
Since Morrison's death in Paris in 1971, the remaining band members and the parents have say and veto power over business deals.
Seven years ago, for instance, General Motors offered the partnership $15 million to use "Light My Fire" to sell Cadillacs, and everyone but Densmore wanted to take the deal. Densmore also refused an endorsement deal offered by iPod maker Apple, for a reported "millions".
"Morrison had been adamant against doing commercials and Densmore wanted to honor Morrison's memory," the appeals court noted in its May ruling.
Manzarek and Krieger now call themselves Riders on the Storm or Riders on the Storm of the 21st Century and continue to perform Doors' songs live.
