MP has filed a lawsuit against Dream Theater

[Metabog]

Once again rumors prove to be true. And he complains that JP won't talk to him?
Are we still supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt now when he is literally the enemy?

[emtee]

Don't really know what to say. I've learned holding my words until all the info is out is the best course of action.
But all in all it's a tough day to be a long time DT fan and possibly a day where sides will have to be chosen...which I
figured would eventually happen but hoped it never would. Total bummer.

[ariich]

Although I have no proof, it's amazingly coincidental that every few days some juicy bit of gossip surfaces. Just enough to keep things a bit off balance for the band. Almost like it's to try to hurt them. Just whaen the dust settles, it's stirred up again. Almost as if on purpose. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but this is just too strange.

Only flaw with that is that most of these news snippets hurt Portnoy's reputation and do nothing to the band's. There's no way anyone is going to lose respect for the band over this.

[Obfuscation]

Shit, it has their addresses on it.

Not gonna lie, I just google mapsed JP's modestly huge house. I feel a bit stalkerish for this and am not proud of myself whatsoever. 

That's the first thing I thought of doing when I saw their addresses. 

[skydivingninja]

Just when I thought he was regaining his dignity with that latest interview a bit, this comes up...

My thoughts exactly.

Yep...

Seriously, being the music fan he is, you'd think he'd remember what happened when Roger Waters tried to sue Pink Floyd, and MP wasn't even as responsible for a great deal of the music like Roger Waters was!  I can't see this going MP's way.

[bosk1]

Please don't post the link to the summons or anything else that has their addresses.  I know it is out there in the public domain, but I'm not comfortable having it linked to from this site.

[johncal]

Shit, it has their addresses on it.

QUICK

STALK THE DT MEMBERS

See you in PA?

I only live a couple of miles from Portnoy.

[ariich]

Guys, can we heed bosk's comment and stop with the discussions about addresses and creepy stalking? Thanks.

[johncal]

Although I have no proof, it's amazingly coincidental that every few days some juicy bit of gossip surfaces. Just enough to keep things a bit off balance for the band. Almost like it's to try to hurt them. Just whaen the dust settles, it's stirred up again. Almost as if on purpose. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but this is just too strange.

Only flaw with that is that most of these news snippets hurt Portnoy's reputation and do nothing to the band's. There's no way anyone is going to lose respect for the band over this.

It's not a flaw if you seek attention at any cost. Self destructive behavior knows no bounds.

EDIT: I agree. The band sure looks like the victims to me although you'd never know it by the way they carry themselves.

[Dekost]

He's just pathetic. He's a 44 grown man acting as a child against people he knew for 25 years, when he's the reason of the split. The little respect I had for him has gone away.

[ariich]

Although I have no proof, it's amazingly coincidental that every few days some juicy bit of gossip surfaces. Just enough to keep things a bit off balance for the band. Almost like it's to try to hurt them. Just whaen the dust settles, it's stirred up again. Almost as if on purpose. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but this is just too strange.

Only flaw with that is that most of these news snippets hurt Portnoy's reputation and do nothing to the band's. There's no way anyone is going to lose respect for the band over this.

It's not a flaw if you seek attention at any cost. Self destructive behavior knows no bounds.

Well, in this case it was the court news service who released the news, I think insinuating that MP released the info is conspiracy theory levels of paranoia.

Besides, this is the worst timing for him. In recent interviews he's really come across as moving on (somewhat) and being more down to earth about the whole thing. This news coming out right now is only going to hurt the reputation that he was slowly starting to get back.

[ariich]

He's just pathetic. He's a 44 grown man acting as a child against people he knew for 25 years, when he's the reason of the split. The little respect I had for him has gone away.

Please read the OP again. Keep things respectful. If you can't be respectful, you will be banned. This is your warning.

[iamtheeviltwin]

Well if you do a search with the New York State Supreme Court you can pull up this case.  However, there is no follow up currently on file, just the summons notice.  So it looks like there might be good reason to believe the case went nowhere or is still in some form of mediation.  At least the document linked earlier is the only public document on the case.

Perhaps someone with better search-fu than I (or access to legal databases) might see if there is more out there to find.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Good thing that "you shouldn't pay attention to everything you read on the internet..."

Also, great thing that "They've moved on....so have I...."

[bosk1]

Although I have no proof, it's amazingly coincidental that every few days some juicy bit of gossip surfaces. Just enough to keep things a bit off balance for the band. Almost like it's to try to hurt them. Just whaen the dust settles, it's stirred up again. Almost as if on purpose. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but this is just too strange.

Only flaw with that is that most of these news snippets hurt Portnoy's reputation and do nothing to the band's. There's no way anyone is going to lose respect for the band over this.

It's not a flaw if you seek attention at any cost. Self destructive behavior knows no bounds.

Well, in this case it was the court news service who released the news, I think insinuating that MP released the info is conspiracy theory levels of paranoia.

Besides, this is the worst timing for him. In recent interviews he's really come across as moving on (somewhat) and being more down to earth about the whole thing. This news coming out right now is only going to hurt the reputation that he was slowly starting to get back.

Well, he filed back in April, so a lot has happened since then.  Who knows what has happened since then?  Since the band released the album and is touring, he obviously wasn't able to get a preliminary injunction (which is about what I would have expected the result to be).  But in the mean time, he may have dropped the suit, settled, whatever.  There's no way of knowing at the time being (the N.Y.S.C.'s online docket has been acting screwy for awhile now, so can't tell if there are other documents on file from any of the parties).

[JediKnight1969]

I remind everyone to be respectful, or you will be banned.

Well... In that case, my hands are tied...

[ariich]

search-fu

I have never heard this phrase, but I love it and am going to use it every chance I get.

[bosk1]

I remind everyone to be respectful, or you will be banned.

Well... In that case, my hands are tied...

Under the circumstances, I am willing to allow a little more flexibility in this rule for the time being. 

[KevShmev]

BTW, can we assume that in cases like this, Roadrunner becomes a huge part of the suit, to protect a band that is under contract with them and one they presumably make a lot of money off of? 

[iamtheeviltwin]

search-fu

I have never heard this phrase, but I love it and am going to use it every chance I get.

Not sure where I first heard it, but it has become part of my lexicon

[alirocker08]

Now can I say my respect has been lost?

[ariich]

Besides, this is the worst timing for him. In recent interviews he's really come across as moving on (somewhat) and being more down to earth about the whole thing. This news coming out right now is only going to hurt the reputation that he was slowly starting to get back.

Well, he filed back in April, so a lot has happened since then.  Who knows what has happened since then?  Since the band released the album and is touring, he obviously wasn't able to get a preliminary injunction (which is about what I would have expected the result to be).  But in the mean time, he may have dropped the suit, settled, whatever.  There's no way of knowing at the time being (the N.Y.S.C.'s online docket has been acting screwy for awhile now, so can't tell if there are other documents on file from any of the parties).

Yeah exactly. If there's no follow up posted on the court's site, and as you say there was very obviously no preliminary injunction, it's entirely possible that the matter was settled or abandoned. But I guess we can't really say anything for certain right now other than the fact that it was filed in the first place.

[bosk1]

Right.

[El Barto]

My strictly amateur opinion is that his quitting the band doesn't really play a big part of it.  He still owned a chunk of the enterprise, and they are currently capitalizing on the name they've established.  Furthermore,  I suspect that he was just looking for an amicable settlement, anyway.  I suspect that he just wanted to have his right to his share of the DT endeavor formally set. 

And I don't recall PF actually winning any lawsuits.  They reached an agreement after a decade or so of bickering.

[Liberation]

I had defended him a lot in the past, before and after he left, sometimes probably I could be accused of fanboyism. I disliked his comment about the ADTOE -> I&W "similarities" but it pretty much went away after I read the most recent interview.

However, this is so low that this has completely destroyed all my respect for him, and not so long ago I wouldn't believe he's capable of doing this.

MP, you lost a dedicated fan. I was kinda torn earlier and wasn't sure which side to take. However, now I'm entirely on the band's side. Mistakes in what you say are one thing, doing something like this is entirely another.

That's all.

[KevShmev]

El barto, that thing reads like he wanted to stop them from using the Dream Theater name.  If it was just for securing monies for royalties and whatnot (like if they disagreed on how much he should get), that would be one thing, but this is another.

Also, Floyd didn't win a lawsuit per se, but Waters attempt to stop them from using the Pink Floyd name failed miserably.

[antigoon]

As a law student, this is pretty interesting.

Otherwise, it's just sad.

[Millais]

Now can I say my respect has been lost?

and i thought he'd gained some back with that interview... *sigh*

da fuq MP. :/

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Way to go MP. You continue to show class.

[Jamesman42]

"The guys won't talk to me, I have to talk to their lawyer...."

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Way to go MP. You continue to show class.

[ariich]

El barto, that thing reads like he wanted to stop them from using the Dream Theater name.  If it was just for securing monies for royalties and whatnot (like if they disagreed on how much he should get), that would be one thing, but this is another.

I dunno, that was my very first thought, but then it does seem like it would be a stupid thing to do, plus the "without plaintiff's consent" wording made me think it's more likely about the money. Also the stuff that JR and JP were saying made it seem that way as well. Or at least that was my interpretation of it at the time.

Hard to say though, and whichever way round it is, it was a low move.

[zxlkho]

Way to go MP. You continue to show class.

[fadetoblackdude7]

So let me get this straight......all of this because MP's father came up with the band name? So he thinks he owns it???

[Dublagent66]

Shouldn't have all of that been settled when he decided to quit?  I mean, you don't just quit a band and go separate ways without getting some legal issues out of the way.
What is going on?  I haven't been able to wrap my head around this for a year and now this.