Ozzy Osbourne sues Tony Iommi over the Black Sabbath name

[Kail]

Ozzy Osbourne has accused former Black Sabbath band mate Tony Iommi of taking over the heavy metal titans' name and costing him royalties from merchandise sales.

Osbourne, who sued the guitarist earlier this week, issued a statement Friday imploring him to "do the right thing."
"Tony, I am so sorry it's had to get to this point by me having to take this action against you," the singer-turned-reality show star said.
But, he added, "we've all worked too hard and long in our careers to allow you to sell merchandise that features all our faces, old Black Sabbath album covers and band logos, and then you tell us that you own the copyright."

But yet Ozzie wants 50% of all profits for himself. How is that fair? He also wants 50% of all profits the group has made since he left. He wants 50% of the concert take, and album sales from the Dio years! Is that fair? I don't think so. He should get an equal share of any merchendise sold with the Black Sabbath name on it, or anything that has his likeness on it, but the rest of what he's asking is over the line. IMO.

What do you think?

 

[T'Baio]

People tend to sue for far more than they deserve, knowing that judges often lower the amount they're asking for considerably. That way, they end up getting what they actually want and think they deserve.

 

[Odin]

How is that fair? He also wants 50% of all profits the group has made since he left. He wants 50% of the concert take, and album sales from the Dio years! Is that fair? I don't think so. He should get an equal share of any merchendise sold with the Black Sabbath name on it, or anything that has his likeness on it, but the rest of what he's asking is over the line. IMO.

What do you think?

I agree, then again one should never cross a guy who bits heads off of bats!

Ozzy should get an equal proportion for anything he contributed to or with his face on it, but 50% is just greedy, he wasn't the only one who made the band great.

 

[Thrall]

He was only there for 10 years and didn't write any songs. Geezer Butler did. This is just a terrible move on his part,

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Didn't Ozzy admit Tony owned the rights to the name several years ago?
Heaven & Hell must be getting too much attention.

From the B/S website:

For those of you still hoping for a new album with Ozzy and Black Sabbath, I think this story pretty much totally kills that idea forever.

Ozzy is suing Tony Iommi over ownership of the name Black Sabbath. Much eyerolling coming from here.

I was following the band back in 1985 when Tony bought the rights from the remaining originals, and he has owned it since then.
For Ozzy (or more probably Sharon) to make this kind of move probably kills Ozzy era Black Sabbath from working together in the future forever, I would think.

 

[Kail]

Didn't Ozzy admit Tony owned the rights to the name several years ago?
Heaven & Hell must be getting too much attention.

That's what Iommi says. Now Ozzie states he never said that.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Didn't Ozzy admit Tony owned the rights to the name several years ago?
Heaven & Hell must be getting too much attention.

That's what Iommi says. Now Ozzie states he never said that.

Gee, Ozzy forgetting something

 

[Garth Rockett]

Didn't Ozzy admit Tony owned the rights to the name several years ago?
Heaven & Hell must be getting too much attention.

That's what Iommi says. Now Ozzie states he never said that.

According to the lawsuit Iommi filed against LiveNation, Ozzy sold his interest in Black Sabbath in 1980. Presumably Iommi will be able to produce some kind of documentation on this.

What's going to be at issue is whether or not the courts interpret Iommi and Ozzy splitting merch 50-50 in the reunion era as consituting a new agreement. One would think Iommi got a written agreement limiting Ozzy's claims when the reunion happened, but one never knows.

I really hope this is thrown out of court. After Ozzy and Sharon screwed Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake out of what's rightfully theirs, they don't deserve to claim some sort of "moral right" to the Black Sabbath name.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Since I saw Heaven and Hell live, I've pretty much accepted Tony Iommi as Black Sabbath. I love the Ozzy years, but Ozzy wasn't the only reason for that. Geezer Butler wrote the lyrics, Iommi wrote all the cool guitar riffs. That leaves Ozzy as just a performer. The band tours as Heaven and Hell. I don't see what Ozzy can claim out of all this and it's a shame he's going to try.

 

[Roshi]

Funny how it reminds me the feud between Roger Waters and David Gilmour; i.e.: "I am Pink Floyd!!1!"
Rock and roll is just... rock and roll...

 

[Kirk's_Tights]

Ozzy needs to shut up now.

I understand that it isn't fair but how the hell does he think it's fair for him to get 50%? Nice contradiction.


Dio > Ozzy.

Tony > Ozzy.

Everyone > Ozzy.


Black Sabbath rocked but Ozzy is a retard.

 

[Chaos Descending]

This is 100% the doing of Sharon Osbourne, guaranteed.

 

[Roshi]

This is 100% the doing of Sharon Osbourne, guaranteed.

Yoko bitch!

 

[Timby]

This is 100% the doing of Sharon Osbourne, guaranteed.

I don't think there's any question about it. She's clearly in charge of what's left of Ozzy's legacy, and he's just a confused, drug-addled old man who just does what she tells him to do.

I imagine that even if he did somehow get it together enough to voice an objection, Sharon could simply pull out the "Remember that time you tried to kill me?" card.

 

[Australis]

Reminds me of the fucked up thing they did a few years back, erasing the drum and bass tracks from Blizzard of Ozz and associated albums because they didn't want to pay royalties to Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley. Should add these guys have been round forever and played with Uriah Heep and Rainbow respectively. They got their own back a little by getting together with the keyboard player and guitarist from Deep Purple and the Aussie vocalist Jimmy Barnes and recording an album of the songs Daisly wrote for Ozzy, under the name Living Loud, stuff like 'Crazy Train' and 'I Don't Know'. Good album, though some find Baarnesy's vocals an acquired taste.

I dunno, it's pretty messed up - I mean, Ozzy's made a gajillion dollars, why does he need more?

 

[barnaclelapse]

This is 100% the doing of Sharon Osbourne, guaranteed.

Wouldn't surprise me.

 

[ToddPence]

The five greatest tragedies in rock history:

1. 1959: Plane crash kills Buddy Holly, J.P. Richardson, and Ritchie Valenz.

2. 1977: Plane crash kills core members of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

3. 1980: John Lennon assassinated.

4. 1989: Ozzy Osbourne fails to complete strangulation of Sharon Osbourne.

5. 2002: Sharon Osbourne beats odds to survive cancer.

 

[Chaos Descending]

The five greatest tragedies in rock history:

1. 1959: Plane crash kills Buddy Holly, J.P. Richardson, and Ritchie Valenz.

2. 1977: Plane crash kills core members of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

3. 1980: John Lennon assassinated.

4. 1989: Ozzy Osbourne fails to complete strangulation of Sharon Osbourne.

5. 2002: Sharon Osbourne beats odds to survive cancer.

Damn skippy!

 

[Australis]

Dude, that's a harsh, harsh accuracy!

 

[Roshi]

LOL!