What caused the Dead Kennedys
v. Biafra lawsuit? What are the facts?
Are Biafra's claims about the case accurate?
What's currently going on with the lawsuit?
Who is Richard F. Stott?
Are the song writing credits different?
Why is Biafra slinging mud at the other members of Dead
Kennedys?
What about the "Levi's commercial" allegation?
What about labels re-releasing music without Biafra's
"permission"?
Who is Manifesto Records?
Why have the CDs been re-mastered?
How did Alternative Tentacles Records start?
In 1997, an employee at Alternative Tentacles Records discovered that
Dead Kennedys had been underpaid $76,000 in royalties over a 10-year
period. When Biafra was told this at a label meeting, he said, do not
tell the band. Biafra then attempted to use the band's own royalties
as a bargaining chip to get the other band members to sign all their
rights to his label worldwide forever. Later, someone at the label informed
the band that these were royalties they had already earned. When confronted,
Biafra refused to compensate the band without a court order. Left with
no choice, the band members' business partnership, Decay Music, voted
to cut ties with Alternative Tentacles and filed suit in October 1998
to have Biafra recognize majority vote and to pay back royalties.
It was proven at a three-week trial in May 2000
that "Alternative Tentacles Records engaged in fraudulent conduct"
and that Jello Biafra "breached his contractual and fiduciary obligations
to plaintiff [Dead Kennedys]." It was also shown "by clear
and convincing evidence" that Biafra and Alternative Tentacles
were "guilty of malice, oppression and fraud" in committing
these acts. Malice was defined as "conduct which is intended to
cause injury or despicable conduct which is carried with a willful and
conscious disregard for the rights of others. Despicable conduct is
conduct which is so vile, base, contemptible, miserable, wretched, or
loathsome that it would be looked down upon and despised by ordinary
decent people."
On December 22, 2000, San Francisco Superior Court
Judge Anne Bouliane concurred with the May 19th decision of the jury
and ruled that Decay Music controls the rights to Dead Kennedys, that
the partnership operates by majority rule and that the band had legally
terminated its license with Alternative Tentacles. Judge Bouliane also
formally entered the jury's fraud judgment against Biafra, requiring
payment of damages of nearly $200,000, including $20,000 in punitive
damages, to the band members. Biafra will receive back a share of the
judgment because he is a band member.
In short, Jello Biafra did something
wrong. He deliberately hid royalties owed to Dead Kennedys and intentionally
misled East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and D.H. Peligro. He promoted his
solo efforts and the label under his control over the interests of the
members of Dead Kennedys. Biafra fell victim to a conflict of interest.
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No. Please see the page entitled Words & Facts.
Hypocrisy is evident.
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Because he was found guilty, Biafra has filed an appeal and has asked
the courts to take the Dead Kennedys' catalogue away from the band and
order it sold off to an outside third party. East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride
and D. H. Peligro want the catalogue to remain with all four band members.
They want to work it out.
Biafra has spent large amounts of time and money
on attorney fees and court costs. He continues to spend money on his
appeal. Although he lives in a 1.1-million-dollar house in the hills
of San Francisco, he is asking others for donations to pay for his appeal.
The appeal will nevertheless reaffirm the court Judgment against him.
These resources could be used to maintain his record label, Alternative
Tentacles. But by continuing with his expensive, failing and misguided
legal maneuvers, Alternative Tentacles may very well go under.
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From the time Dead Kennedys began, Biafra was obtaining advice from
a friend in Colorado named Richard F. Stott, a law student and band
manager. Biafra did this secretly, without informing the other band
members. Stott later became a licensed attorney and Biafra brought him
in to be the band's lawyer. However, Stott was also Biafra's personal
attorney, and they did not inform the other band members of this fact
as required by California law; there was clearly a conflict of interest.
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The song writing income splits are the same as they have been from the
very beginning; this has not changed. Biafra never wrote a song by himself
- the songs were written by everyone in the band. Dead Kennedys has
always been a collective and a collaboration. The credits on the CDs
now reflect the actual splits the band members agreed to in writing.
Biafra still receives a larger share of the song writing income for
his lyrics. At the trial, Biafra tried, and failed, to change the splits
in his favor; the court affirmed the original agreement. Biafra had
unilaterally printed credits on the records without the other band members
input. At that time, and without their knowledge, Biafra was secretly
getting advice from his friend, attorney Richard F. Stott.
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It was proven that Biafra did something wrong, but his actions suggest
that he can't bring himself to admit it. People are concerned about
Biafra. Making bitter, fabricated attacks against the very people with
whom he created and performed great music does not help the situation.
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This is an old, untrue allegation that keeps being brought up. This
allegation was fabricated by Biafra to mislead people and direct them
away from the real subject of the lawsuit - his fraudulent actions against
his former Dead Kennedys bandmates. He brought this "issue"
up at the trial and it was proven not to be true - the offer was voted
down by the band several years before the trial, and East Bay Ray informed
the ad agency that the ad wasn't going to happen. Over the years, the
band has received many inquiries about using songs in commercials, but
they have always voted down the offers.
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In spite of Biafra's efforts to prevent the release of the DK's catalogue
after the Judgment, new labels have been chosen by three of the four
band members to release the music. Biafra no longer solely profits from
selling the catalogue; the income is now shared equally by all four
band members. Though Biafra told everyone he did not make any profit
from Dead Kennedys, in truth, he averaged a high five figure per year
income from Alternative Tentacles.
Biafra will only vote for Alternative Tentacles,
and therefore only himself, to release the catalogue and profit from
it. But his denial that he behaved fraudulently makes it impossible
for the other three band members to agree to work with ATR. The band
was a group effort, and the court has found that ALL of the band have
a voice in its future, through majority vote. Because Biafra is currently
outvoted, Biafra doesn't find democracy useful. Biafra has stated that
if he can't have Dead Kennedys for himself, no one can.
Contradictorily, Biafra has accepted and cashed
the check from Manifesto Records, the new distributor for the catalogue,
and continues to draw the largest share in the royalties from that label.
Biafra has also accepted payment from all other new licensees.
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Manifesto Records, the label Dead Kennedys signed with to distribute
their re-mastered catalogue and to release the live CD "Mutiny
On the Bay," is a totally independent record label based in Los
Angeles with no affiliations with any major label. Manifesto is a small,
family-held corporation with only three shareholders. Their catalogue
includes recordings by Tom Waits, Tim Buckley, The Wedding Present,
Cinerama, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and others. The band members had many
offers to distribute the catalogue from major labels and major-label
affiliated labels; however, the choice of Manifesto to distribute the
catalogue was decidedly non-corporate.
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Now the listener can hear the sound of the original tapes the way the
band first heard them in the studio. Digital sound technology has improved
by leaps and bounds since the 1980s, when the band's CDs were first
mastered. It's like the difference between the first video game Pong
and the latest 3D games - the advances in computer speed reveal much
more detail in the new CDs. In addition, several technical errors, like
the old "Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death" having a +5
dB midrange peak that made it sound like a telephone, have been corrected
in the re-mastering.
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Alternative Tentacles was originally founded by Dead Kennedys and put
into operation by East Bay Ray to work for the band and other artists.
Ray produced and financed the first Dead Kennedys single, and he and
their first drummer, Ted, sold the first 6,000 copies from the back
of their cars to local record stores. Ray also sold them from his house.
When the band started putting out records of other artists in 1981,
Ray set up the more formal ATR label and structured the deals - deals
designed to put the artists' interests first. In 1986, with Richard
F. Stott's assistance, Biafra took over sole ownership of the label
from the band.
