Interesting. Given that they are fighting over ownership of the name, I think the arguments may likely play out something like this:
-Geoff: When you look at the numbers, I wrote more than the existing members of "Queensryche" combined. Since my contribution over time is greater than theirs, I should get the name. And even more than that, take a look behind the numbers. I was the one who drove the direction of the band and came up with the album concepts. And I was forced to bring in outside writers to advance those concepts because the other guys did not contribute. So even more than looking at the songwriting credits, I was the driving force behind the continuing business of the band.
-Queensryche (i.e., Whip, Scott, Ed): Queensryche is an entity, not a person. Geoff contributed to the entity that is Queensryche, and his contribuation is about 33%. And given that Tate does not write music itself, regardless of what the publishing credits say, he contributed far less. But Queensryche, the entity, aside from Geoff's contributions, has 67% of the credits. Geoff cannot claim part of those credits for himself. And as far as him controlling the direction of the band, that is largely true, and that is why the band's success and the value of Queensryche as a brand has declined severely over the last decade, plus, while other bands have continued to thrive. He was allowed to manage the band, but he mismanaged it and should not be rewarded for that.
I think it will play out something like that. But I really wonder what specifically Geoff is after. A couple of things come to mind. Does he really want control of the Queensryche name? Maybe he actually does. Not sure, but it wouldn't be beyond the realm of reason to think so. After all, right or wrong, he feels as if he was running the ship all by himself. Rather than having a 25% share, if he controlled the name and brought in a bunch of hired guns rather than having to have 75% go to 3 other guys, he could pay peanuts to guys who are not owners. If he thinks people will still buy the albums and come to the shows, and he turns out to be right, this would be a winning formula for him. And he would still be able to put out new albums as the band has done for awhile now by having outside writers write them based on his input and direction. If that's the case, the other guys NEED to do something going forward to get some positive P/R to counter the Geoff Tate spin machine so that people don't view them as "they guys that tried to kick Geoff Tate out of the band and got their butts kicked in court for trying to screw him over." Honestly, while this would be the worst result for the "Queensryche" brand, if the guys actually do well to get things under control and can become a viable entity under the "Rising West" name or some other name, this might actually be the best result for everybody involved. Don't get me wrong--I don't think it's the best outcome for the fans, and I don't think it's the "right" outcome. But in terms of economics for each of the four parties involved (and Parker as well), this might just be the best solution.
...Or is Geoff simply after a bigger slice of the pie? In other words, is he simply angling for more money as part of his buyout and a larger share of the royalties going forward? Could be. He might very well have his eyes set on the Queensryche name, and have this as his consolation prize if that doesn't work. The problem for him is that, in a sense, for this outcome to be profitable for him, he has to be careful not to damage the Queensryche brand too much. Corporate buyouts generally get paid out over a period of several years because, let's face it, most corporations do not have a large body of liquid cash assets sitting in a bank account somewhere. That's just not how corporations are run. I highly doubt that Queensryche could pay a departing member in cash a lump sum value representing their share. So Queensryche has to continue and make money (and not fail financially) for a long-term payout to happen properly. In this scenario, Geoff has to hope Queensryche does well without him so they can afford to pay him. In terms of royalties, it is also in his best interest for them to do well because the better they do, the more money he stands to gain. In fact, it would not surprise me if any settlement includes a term that Geoff will get some fixed percentage of what the band makes going forward, completely separate from royalties.
These kinds of fights are really stupid. But I'm interested to see how this plays out.
Topic: Official Queensryche Thread - NEW ALBUM INFO. p. 30 (Read 50085 times)
