Artists Talk Settlement With Wolfgang

Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Sony artists The Doors and Carlos Santana have reached a tentative settlement of claims that accused the operator of an online music archive of unlawfully selling concert merchandise and offering online concert recordings.

While the Sony plaintiffs and Bill Sagan, the operator of Wolfgang’s Vault, are very close to reaching a resolution, all parties have until October 27 to produce any additional documents or discovery items, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose.

The settlement does not cover other plaintiffs in the case including Grateful Dead Productions; Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones; Warner Music Group or Rhino Records.

Sagan bought a warehouse filled with Bill Graham’s memorabilia and audiotapes from Clear Channel Entertainment for more than $5 million in 2002. He launched Wolfgangsvault.com in 2005 and began selling merchandise and streaming concert recordings.

The defendants filed suit in 2006, claiming Sagan was not authorized to sell merchandise that features the musicians’ intellectual property, including their voices, names and trademarks.