Media Mention

Winston & Strawn litigation partner Michael Elkin's defense of William Sagan was featured in an article titled "Deadheads Wanna Know Who Owns '60s Concert Coverage," that was published in the December 18, 2008 issue of the San Francisco Daily Journal. The article discusses a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by several legendary rock bands against Sagan, the Web site owner of Wolfgang's Vault. Bands including The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Carlos Santana, and The Doors are suing Sagan for selling concert memorabilia and streaming old concert footage from the Web site archive, which was produced by rock promoter Bill Graham.

According to the article, Elkin argued that the right of first sale protects the resale of merchandise produced by Graham's company from copyright infringement allegations and since then, claims over the concert memorabilia have been dismissed. What remains to be solved is a dispute over the concert footage that is available for purchase on Wolfgang's Vault Web site. Attorneys not involved in the case claim that the artists likely do not want their concert memorabilia or videos removed but want a portion of the revenue.