Metallica Copyright E to F Chord Progression

Just thought I would post the original article that spawned the
"rumour" that Metallica was sueing a Canadian band for using the E to
F chord progression (this was mentioned in another posting). Careful
everyone! But then again, when was the last time anyone here played an
E or F power chord...

Metallica Sue Canadian Band over E, F Chords
Posted by: editoron Tuesday, July 22, 2003 - 06:03 AM
"It's just a matter of a band having the right to protect the chords
it
uses. I couldn't start up my own soft drink company using the exact
same
formula as Coca-Cola." - Jill Pietrini, Metallica's lawyer

MONTREAL - Metallica are taking legal action against independent
Canadian
rock band Unfaith over what they feel is unsanctioned usage of two
chords
the band has been using since 1982 : E and F.
"People are going to get on our case again for this, but try to see it
from
our point of view just once," stated Metallica's Lars Ulrich. "We're
not
saying we own those two chords, individually - that would be
ridiculous.
We're just saying that in that specific order, people have grown to
associate E, F with our music."
Metallica filed a trademark infringement suit against the indie group
at the
US district court for central California on Monday. According to the
drummer, the continued use of the two chords causes "confusion,
deception
and mistake in the minds of the public".
Metallica's lawyer, Jill Pietrini, told us that the band decided to
take
legal action only after first sending a letter of complaint to the
Canadian
band's singer/songwriter, Erik Ashley.
"We sent a demand letter and haven't reached a resolution, so we had
to
sue," she said. "They continue to shamelessly feature the two chords
on
their website song samples and we just can't have that."
Ashley, in the meantime, is still shocked by the entire story, and
hasn't
yet decided how the band will respond.
"I thought it was a prank at first," he told us. "Now I'm not sure
what to
think."
Ulrich states that he's not trying to prevent Unfaith from using the
two
chords, only that he feels Metallica should be credited for them
whenever
used, and is calling for 50% of all revenue generated from any song
using
them.
"It's nothing personal against them," he added. "We intend to enforce
our
rights with any band intending to use Metallica-branded chords in the
future."
This marks the first time anything of this kind has ever been tried in
court, and it will be interesting to see how things develop.

Metallica's website has issued an official statement on the suit here.

Unfaith's official website hasn't officially responded at print time.