“Iron Maiden’s management failed to produce any accurate earnings figures until both parties had already spent well over half a million pounds on legal costs. The lyrics taken from the track ‘Life’s Shadow’ which was on Beckett’s eponymous LP, were written by musician Brian Quinn. Steve Harris claimed the lyrics as all his own work and since 1982 has solely profited from the substantial publishing income which totalled circa £2m. “Back in 1981, Steve Harris intentionally copied two verses of lyrics, which he lifted word for word, from 1970s band Beckett’s album, for the definitive Iron Maiden song, ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’. Maiden omitted ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ from the setlist during the final leg of last year’s ‘The Book Of Souls’ world tour but due to this settlement, we are fully expecting it to be rightfully reinstated when Maiden hit the road again this May for the ‘Legacy Of The Beast’ tour. However, McKay has said that he expects further claims to follow which he is involved with regarding other Iron Maiden songs.
This settlement avoids a trial and Maiden now “have permission to use the previously misappropriated works without further dispute”.
The entire claim has been settled in full with the final and total costs to the defendants totalling £900,000. Barton had previously been paid off by Steve Harris in a secret settlement which cost the defendants £200,000 for legal costs and damages but failed to disclose at the time that co-writer Brian Quinn, who knew nothing about the secret settlement, had written the lyrics and the guitar solo. The case was expected to go to the High Court this year with the four defendants, Maiden’s Steve Harris and Dave Murray along with Robert Barton and publishing company Imagem London Ltd, being sued for “unspecified damages over £200,000 for alleged copyright breaches”.īarton and Quinn are the co-writers of ‘Life’s Shadow’. The case centered around the Beckett song ‘Life’s Shadow’ from which two verses of lyrics are said to have been used in classic Maiden track ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’, as well as a passage of music used in ‘The Nomad’, a track from Maiden’s 2000 album ‘Brave New World’. The lawyer says Harris' had a "lame excuse" for stealing lyrics to "Life's Shadow," and that he is preparing to "commence a brand new legal action for copyright infringement" against Harris, Murray and Iron Maiden's publishing company.The action brought against Iron Maiden last year for alleged copyright infringement on ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ and ‘The Nomad’ has been settled in full.įormer Lindisfarne manager Barry McKay brought the action on behalf of Brian Quinn, aka Ingham, in May 2017 and you can read all about it right here. McKay has all-but-promised another lawsuit against Harris. "However, due to escalating legal fees and the potential huge costs of a court case it was pragmatic to reluctantly settle this action with McKay for £100,000, a fraction of what he brought the action for. "We do not believe that Brian Quinn was the one who wrote these six lines in question over 40 years ago as was claimed by Barry McKay," the band said in an official statement. In a statement, the band said it still disputes Quinn's claim that some of his lyrics were stolen.
Iron Maiden says it settled because of escalating legal fees. "The defendants have paid all of the plaintiffs considerable legal costs as well as their own legal costs and six figure damages," the lawyer said. But lyricist Quinn says the previous deal cut him out of the publishing.Īccording to Quinn's lawyer, Barry McKay, the matter is being settled, but the fight isn't wholly over. Similarities between the songs have been previously addressed by Barton. Harris and Maiden guitarist Dave Murray are the credited writers on "Hallowed Be Thy Name."īob Barton and Brian Quinn are credited on "Life's Shadow." "Hallowed Be Thy Name" bears musical similarities and several of the same lyrics to a song called "Life's Shadow" that was released in 1974 by a band called Beckett.