Members of the band The Eagles (L - R) Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh
and Timothy B. Schmit attend the premiere of the film "History of the
Eagles Part One" during Sundance London, at the O2 Arena in London.
Reuters
By Jonathan Stempel
REUTERS
- The Eagles have filed a lawsuit accusing the owners of a Mexico hotel
of using the name "Hotel California," arguably the band's most famous
song, without permission.
In
a complaint filed late Monday, the Eagles said owners of the 11-room
Todos Santos hotel in Baja California Sur "actively encourage" guests to
believe the hotel is associated with the band, in order to sell
t-shirts and other merchandise, and make guests feel welcome.
This
allegedly included piping "Hotel California" and other Eagles songs
through the hotel sound system, and selling t-shirts in that refer to
the hotel as "legendary," resulting in apparent confusion among many
guests who posted online reviews.
The
Eagles also noted that the defendant Hotel California Baja LLC has
applied with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the Hotel
California name.
"Defendants
lead U.S. consumers to believe that the Todos Santos Hotel is
associated with the Eagles and, among other things, served as the
inspiration for the lyrics in 'Hotel California,' which is false," the
complaint said.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court seeks a variety of damages and a halt to any infringement.
Neither the hotel nor the lawyer who filed its trademark application immediately responded on Tuesday to requests for comment.
The
Todos Santos hotel was named Hotel California when it opened in 1950,
but went through a series of name changes before a Canadian couple, John
and Debbie Stewart, bought it in 2001, and according to the Eagles
began using the original name in marketing. Its website is
((http://hotelcaliforniabaja.com/)).
"Hotel
California" is the title track from the 1976 Eagles album of the same
name, and won the 1977 Grammy award for record of the year.
It is known for its long guitar outro featuring Don Felder and Joe Walsh, and complex lyrics sung by Don Henley.
In
an interview with CBS News last year, Henley said the song is about "a
journey from innocence to experience. It's not really about California;
it's about America."
The case is Eagles Ltd v Hotel California Baja LLC et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 17-03276.
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