Hi there, this may come across as trivial and perhaps ridiculous to ask, but i'd like to seek some legal advise on reforming a band (music) without all the original members, in this case one other person.
About five years ago I teamed up with a pal, in this case we'll call him "Chad Kroeger", and started a musical project, and in this case we'll call it "Nickelback". Initially it was just to perform some songs that Chad had written over the previous years. We did some live shows under Chad's name and I played piano while he sang along. All the music at the time was written by Chad as well as the lyearical content.
After a few shows, I suggested to Chad that we expand on the idea of playing shows and actually start writing some material together. He agreed, and one night while we were driving through our city the project name, Nickelback, came to me. I voiced it and immediately Chad agreed on the name.
Over the next couple of years, we spent a lot of time working on new material that would eventually phase out the initial songs written solely by Chad. Chad had written three new songs, all the music and all the lyearics, while I had written six new songs, chosen the name titles and at that point Chad was to write the lyearics as he was the lead vocalist also. We began performing these songs under the name Nickelback and then went on to record an album, make a few music videos, do a tour, etc.
Three years ago we disbanded due to personal reasons. I advised that I no longer wanted to continue with Nickelback, and as such it was left at that.
Now, three years on, I have spent a lot of time continuing to write music, and I am still very proud of the songs I wrote for Nickelback. Now, I want to launch the project again, perform six of the old songs I had written musically (while Chad had written the lyearics), and also perform new material that doesn't involve Chad whatsoever.
My question is: can Chad stop me from doing this, or file a law suit against me that would actually hold up (e.g, breach of copyright or intellectual property law)?
About five years ago I teamed up with a pal, in this case we'll call him "Chad Kroeger", and started a musical project, and in this case we'll call it "Nickelback". Initially it was just to perform some songs that Chad had written over the previous years. We did some live shows under Chad's name and I played piano while he sang along. All the music at the time was written by Chad as well as the lyearical content.
After a few shows, I suggested to Chad that we expand on the idea of playing shows and actually start writing some material together. He agreed, and one night while we were driving through our city the project name, Nickelback, came to me. I voiced it and immediately Chad agreed on the name.
Over the next couple of years, we spent a lot of time working on new material that would eventually phase out the initial songs written solely by Chad. Chad had written three new songs, all the music and all the lyearics, while I had written six new songs, chosen the name titles and at that point Chad was to write the lyearics as he was the lead vocalist also. We began performing these songs under the name Nickelback and then went on to record an album, make a few music videos, do a tour, etc.
Three years ago we disbanded due to personal reasons. I advised that I no longer wanted to continue with Nickelback, and as such it was left at that.
Now, three years on, I have spent a lot of time continuing to write music, and I am still very proud of the songs I wrote for Nickelback. Now, I want to launch the project again, perform six of the old songs I had written musically (while Chad had written the lyearics), and also perform new material that doesn't involve Chad whatsoever.
My question is: can Chad stop me from doing this, or file a law suit against me that would actually hold up (e.g, breach of copyright or intellectual property law)?