Eagles songwriter Don Henley made headlines this week, seething with rage over an unlicensed use of the Eagles’ classic Hotel California in a hip-hop song.
Songwriter/singer Frank Ocean, who has penned hits for Beyonce Knowles, John Legend and Brandy among other artists, released a song called American Wedding for free, online.
It incorporates a long, extended sample of the song, for which Ocean didn’t obtain the proper legal clearances. Here’s the song in question:
Despite the fact that the song was released for free, and that Ocean has made no money off it since it was an online mixtape, Henley has threatened to sue him if he plays it live. On his Tumblr page, Ocean took some time out to speak openly about the controversy:
“Don Henley is apparently intimidated by my rendition of ‘Hotel California.’ He threatened to sue if I perform it again. I think it’s f—in’ awesome.”
This was followed up with a longer post:
Don Henley(’s label—Rhino) is apparently intimidated by my rendition of ‘Hotel California’ ..
He (They) threatened to sue if I perform it again. I think that’s f—in awesome. I guess if I play it at coachella it’ll cost me a couple hundred racks. If I don’t show up to court, it’ll be a judgement against me & will probably show up on my credit report. Oh well. I try to buy my s— cash anyway. They also asked that I release a statement expressing my admiration for Mr. Henley, along with my assistance pulling it off the web as much as possible. S—’s weird. Ain’t this guy rich as f—? Why sue the new guy? I didn’t make a dime off that song. I released it for free. If anything I’m paying homage.
