Judge Bans 2 Doors Members From Using Name
 

Judge Bans 2 Doors Members From Using Name

Mon Jul 25, 6:27 PM ET

LOS ANGELES - A judge has issued a permanent injunction banning two members of the Doors from using the band's name and any likeness of late front man Jim Morrison to promote a renewed version of the band.


Superior Court Judge Gregory W. Alarcon in a judgment released Friday sided with Doors drummer
John Densmore, who sued keyboardist
Ray Manzarek and guitarist
Robby Krieger in February 2003 for breach of contract.

Manzarek and Krieger have been touring without Densmore under the name "The Doors of the 21st Century."

Densmore's lawyer, S. Jerome Mandel, said that band members had a unique "unanimity requirement" that gives anyone a right to veto a move involving the Doors.

Morrison, the band's charismatic lead singer, died in Paris in 1971 and left all of his property to girlfriend Pamela Courson. After she died in 1974, her estate was divided among her parents and Morrison's parents.

The Morrison and Courson estates both were included as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

"John has always held as his primary motive to preserve the legacy of the band," Mandel said Monday. "This wasn't filed for economic reasons, it was to stop them from calling themselves the Doors."

The injunction also orders Manzarek and Krieger to turn over profits from their performances to the Doors' partnership, which includes both of them along with Densmore and the two estates.

"The Doors of the 21st Century" has earned at least $3 million to $4 million, Mandel said.

Tom Vitorino, manager for "The Doors of the 21st Century," did not immediately respond to an e-mail request Monday for an interview.

In a 43-page ruling, the court outlined the Doors' policy of sharing songwriting credits and also found that the three surviving members agreed after Morrison's death to a rule of unanimity.

The ruling cited Manzarek's own liner notes to his spoken word compact disc "Myth & Reality": "The Doors all had veto power. If one guy didn't want to do something it wasn't done. That's the way it always worked out with the Doors. It was a four-way split of all the Doors' money, totally democratic with veto power."

The Los Angeles-based band, which was inducted in 1992 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is best known for its hits "Break on Through," "L.A. Woman" and "Light My Fire."

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On the Net:

The Doors: http://www.thedoors.com

Ray Manzarek: http://www.raymanzarek.com/