It’s with a heavy heart – and a little relief – that I announce a final legal settlement between myself and The Charlie Daniels Band.
As some of you know, The Charlie Daniels Band sued me exactly a year ago today, arguing I had violated copyright on the song “The Devil Goes Down to Georgia,” from which I drew inspiration for the titles of my novels “A Soul to Steal” and “Band of Demons.”
With few resources to challenge the band in court, I eventually had to give in to its demands. As a result of the settlement, I am now changing the names of my books. “A Soul to Steal” will henceforth be known as “A Spirit With Which to Abscond” while “Band of Demons” will be re-titled “A Group of Evil Creatures.”
As always, I’m grateful for the assistance of my cover artist, Travis Pennington, who at the last minute agreed to re-work the covers of my books. You can take a peek at what the new cover for “Band of Demons” will look like to the left once it goes live on Amazon later today.
I am, of course, sorry to see the old titles go, but I think the new ones work almost as well. Unfortunately, the legal agreement does stipulate other changes. I must remove the following words from both of my novels: devil, demon, soul, steal, fiddle, fire, dare, Georgia and “hickory stump.”
I must also give the band at least half of my proceeds to date, which I calculate to be roughly $6.66, a fitting figure.
As I said, I’m sorry it came to this, but I’m hopeful that my fans will accept this decision and we can all put this sorry episode behind us.
As part of the legal agreement, please know that “A Soul to Steal” will be FREE on Amazon on April 2 and April 3. I doubt the new cover will be up by then, so it’s your last chance to enjoy it in its original form.
For a larger view of the new cover, see below:
Arrgh! Sorry to hear this. I don't think they have a monopoly on the title (words) but realize how expensive to fight in court. What I don't understand is how they (or anyone) can claim a right to words such as: devil, demon, soul, steal, fiddle, fire, dare, Georgia and “hickory stump.”
Can you explain that?
http://ketaskeep.blogspot.com
I can only explain it by pointing to the date. 🙂 Please don't hate me.
This is just so sad. Although they are a band that I like and think I just lost a little respect for them. I grew up with that song. In fact, when my first cars radio broke, there were many times we sang that song word for word while driving down the road. Kept the kids busy.
That said, I never connected the names of your books with any part of the song. Looking at them now I see similarity but as Keta Diablo stated, they are words. I will continue to read your books because you are a terrific writer. But I am pretty sure the next time I hear the song I won't feel the same feelings I always did.