Sugarland Co-founder Kristin Hall Sues Former Bandmates Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush

Well, this makes up for Wednesday’s “slow news day.”

Here’s a more in depth article about the Sugarland story: Sugarland story on Law.com

Holy cow, this *does* make up for yesterday’s slow news day!

Jewel got married…good , maybe now she’ll go away.

Hall’s lawsuit makes sense given that she probably DID have some sort of ‘good faith’ agreement with the remaining members of the band. She better have gotten something in writing.

I wish Taylor Swift would go away. Luckily, she’s burning so hot, she’ll probably burn out fast. I can only hope. Kristen Hall’s suing huh? Does this set a precedent for Jason Newsted suing Metallica for the 23 cents profit they’ve made since he left?

…Kristen Hall didn’t have a written agreement with Sugarland. If the whole thing is about getting paid because of the band name trademark, that hardly sounds like a $1.5 million type of case.

From the article Jim linked to:

“[Hall] claims that she has an existing partnership agreement with Nettles and Bush dating from 2002 in which they agreed to share profits and losses equally. Hall also alleges that she created the name Sugarland and agreed to “contribute” the trade name, trademark and service mark to the partnership.

The partnership agreement, however, never was put into writing, according to Hall’s lawyer.“

Considering that her name is on the trademark with the other two, it shouldn’t be hard to prove that their was a partnership agreement. I would assume Nettles and Bush would need something in writing to prove the dissolution of their business partnership. It seems to me that she has a solid case.

Razor X, I wondered the same thing, but the article on Law.com clears up some confusion. It also mentioned that former members of Limp Bizkit received settlements once the band gained some notoriety, so there is precedent.

if there’s no written agreement kristen hall has just no evidence to proof her claim at court. on top of everything, the timing of the filing of the lawsuit looks rather dodgy, to say the least.

she and her lawyers will aim for an out-of-court settlement but that will be nowhere near the $ 1.5 million she’s claiming now.

brady,
sugarland (nettles/bush) do not have to prove that there wasn’t an agreement. kirsten hall must present evidence that there was one. especially, one that would entitle her to receive financial compensation after leaving the band/partnership.

It always saddens me to see country acts get caught up in legal disputes. Seems to me like Hall’s got a good case, although I’m not clear on whether she’s supposed to have received more profits just from songs and sales off of Twice the Speed of Life, or from anything that bears the group’s name, like merchandise sales.

Whoever made that prediction earlier that Sugarland’s “deluxe” edition pre-release would spur a popular trend for country acts, Taylor Swift seems to be providing some early validation (although it’s hardly surprising coming from someone who’s already re-relased her debut in any number of “editions”).

Yes,

I think I still own one or two of them Leeann (That makes it even worse no?) Perhaps that should have been on my list over at country universe of ‘embarrassing’ albums that I own.

Oh yeah, good for Jewel! I saw Ty say on a GAC special the other week that the thought of marriage was scarier to him than some crazy rodeo thing that I can’t remember, because I don’t know anything about the rodeo. Likewise, Jewel said that getting married wasn’t a priority or necessity for her. Sure fooled me.:)

And the truth about Jim’s “Jewel influence” comes out!

I’ll third that — “I Want It That Way” is pretty awesome. Never cared for anything else they did, though.

I suppose y’all have seen the parody version of “I Want It That Way.”

Maybe Jewel is with child and didn’t want to give birth to a “bastard”! (Boy how things have changed over the years….) This should work out for Jewel as I read recently that when the wife is far more attractive than the husband the husband usually doesn’t stray as they are so thankful to have a hottie for a wife. Also the fact such husbands are not attractive may have something to do with it…

Thanks for the Wright-Up (bad pun) on the Sunny Sweeney / The Wrights songwriters in the round concert you attended. Its like “The Bluebird Cafe” has hit the road! During the 2007 Fan Fair Sunny started busking on the sidewalk out in front of the main Ernest Tubb Record Shop and my friends tell me almost none of the passersby had any idea who she was….

Taylor Swift is aa genius when it comes to marketing herself. Taylor has become such a “brand” and cultural icon her music has become a secondary consideration. Hey, when do the Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift “Barbie” special edition dolls come out? (lol)

Sorry that my comment seems out of sequence. There seems to be a delay on this comment thread, so I didn’t notice your comment directed to me before, Razor X.

I’ll admit that my above comment comes from an uninformed place. Back when Sugarland came out, I had no idea that Hall was a lesbian. I know that people outside of the country world did, but did people within the country world know? This is a real question, because I don’t know the answer.

I am sorry for writing this message so late. I have always thought that Hall was pushed out of Sugarland too soon. It wouldn’t shock me if 2 or 3 years from now there is no Bush and no Sugarland.

As for Toby Keith- I don’t think that “Beer for My Horses” is racist. 1. Because Willie co-wrote it. 2. Because as a black man my ears would prick up if that were the case. That said, I think that Toby Keith’s comments on Glen Beck were racist. I am a big McCain supporter, but to claim that a black man is acting white just proves that Keith has no idea how diverse the black culture and community is or the white community, for that matter. Maybe Toby Keith should stop speaking out loud when his foot is in his mouth. Write better songs. That is my best advice. His music has been going downhill like a snowball. Write better songs.

I am sorry I thought that was the song they co- wrote together. Thanks LeeAnn. I also agree that Willie wouldn’t sing a racist song.