Shortly after settling their lawsuit about their 1982 classic "Hallowed Be Thy Name" alongside their 2000 song "The Nomad," Iron Maiden are being slapped with another lawsuit.
The same lawyer, Barry McKay, has filed a new suit against bassist Steve Harris and guitarist Dave Murray, as well as the band’s publishing company Imagem London Limited. He's acting on behalf of Maiden‘s early singer Dennis Willcock and Terry Wilson-Slesser of Beckett. They are suing over £2,000,000 in disputed lyric credits and resulting damages. (approx. $2.6 million USD)
According to ThePRP:
Willcock claims to have written the lyrics for four of the band’s songs back in 1977 when he was a member of the group. Those tracks include: “Prowler“, “Charlotte The Harlot“, “Phantom Of The Opera” and “Iron Maiden“. Willcock further alleges he co-wrote the lyrics to “Prodigal Son” with Harris and was never properly credited for his role.
They estimate that the share of the publishing income/royalties from those tracks are in excess of £2,000,000 and are seeking what they claim is their fair share of the proceeds.
Wilson-Slesser meanwhile alleges that Iron Maiden‘s “Hallowed By Thy Name” lifted lyrics from Beckett‘s track “Rainbow’s Gold“, in particular the line “Catch your soul he’s willing to fly away”, which similarly appeared in “Hallowed By Thy Name” as “Catch my soul ‘cos it’s willing to fly away”.
A rep for Maiden called the allegations "outrageous" and "absolutely ridiculous" when asked for comment by The Sun.
It will be interesting to see where this case goes.
