Two former Sex Pistols members are suing singer Johnny Rotten for the right to use the band’s songs in an upcoming television series about the anarchic punk rock icons.
Important points:
- Steve Jones and Paul Cook want to use Sex Pistols music for their new TV series
- The series, titled Pistol, is based on Jones’ memoir as the band’s guitarist
- Lead singer Johnny Rotten has refused permission to use the music
Guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook want the songs to appear on the new show Pistol, a television series based on Jones’ memoir.
Rotten, whose real name is John Lydon, criticized the series as “disrespectful” and refused permission to record the songs.
Edmund Cullen, a lawyer for Jones and Cook, told a London High Court judge that the former bandmates had a “brittle and fragile” relationship.
Cullen argued that under the terms of a 1998 banding agreement, decisions about license applications could be made on the basis of “majority rules”.
However, Lydon claims that licenses to use the music cannot be granted without his consent.
Cullen said the band’s original bassist, Glen Matlock, and the estate of Matlock’s replacement, Sid Vicious, both supported Cook and Jones’ position. Vicious died in 1979 at the age of 21.
Lydon’s attorney, Mark Cunningham, said in written arguments that Jones’s memoir portrayed the singer “in a hostile and unflattering light,” and once described Johnny Rotten as “the annoying little brat with great bone structure who always asks for more.”
The trial is expected to last until next week.
Founded in London in 1975, the Sex Pistols enlivened and made scandalous the UK music scene with songs like God Save the Queen and Anarchy.
The band split in 1978 following the release of an album, but the surviving members have since reunited for several concerts.
Scheduled to air next year, Pistol is directed by Danny Boyle, the Oscar-winning director of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire.
AP