Criminal trial over manuscripts for Eagles songs has begun. But no cholera: cruise ship is allowed to dock in Mauritius after suspicion

The trial has begun in New York for the alleged theft of approximately one hundred handwritten pages of lyrics and sheet music from the American rock band Eagles. At the start of the trial, Eagles frontman Don Henley said he had been the victim of ‘blackmail’.

The three men who worked as collectors are accused in the lawsuit. According to prosecutors, a biographer of the band obtained the handwritten documents for the Eagles album “Hotel California” in the late 1970s. However, he never returned it and instead sold it to one of the collectors in 2005. He then allegedly sold them to the other two collectors. The three men said they obtained the notes legally.

Henley, who is currently on a farewell tour with the Eagles, said the contents of the notebooks were the result of the band’s work. They contain “some of the stupid things” the band members wrote down, before completing final versions of hits like “Hotel California.”

The banknotes were not intended for the public. The biographer who appropriated it committed a theft. The lawyers of the suspects point out that the biographer in question is not on trial in the present proceedings.

I bought my own notes

Eagles singer Henley says he discovered several pages of his notes online in 2012 and bought them for $8,500. It was the “most appropriate, practical” way to reacquire the texts, Henley said. He “bought back his property.” Later, 13 additional handwritten pages for the Eagles’ global hit “Hotel California” appeared at auction.

‘I have already been blackmailed once’ said singer Henley. The procedure, which he started with a complaint in 2016, is expected to last several days. (saw/sda/afp)