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They thought they were “Waiting On a Friend,” but instead they’ll settle for $80,000 in attorneys’ fees.
Early last year, a trio of California art galleries got sued for selling prints of a painting by Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood called “Rod and Ronnie,” which depicted Wood and Rod Stewart crooning together into a microphone during their Faces days.
The problem: Wood’s painting and subsequent prints bear a striking resemblance to a photo by celebrity photographer Robert Matheu, who claims he took it at a Faces concert in 1975.
The galleries, who were charged by Matheu in a January 2010 suit along with Wood, claim Wood had given them guarantees of the artworks’ authenticity when they first began selling them in 2003.
But when they reached out to Wood last year, asking the rocker to protect them from liability in the case, they complained they got the runaround, bounced between his legal teams in London, New York and Los Angeles.
Last month, Wood finally broke down and agreed to indemnify the galleries from Matheu’s claims while paying the bills racked up by Fink’s law firm.
An attorney for Matheu, whose case is still pending, declined to comment. A spokesman said Wood’s lawyer was travelling and could not be reached for comment. James Covert
Last Will
Following the sudden death of billionaire Sidney Harman, 92, this week, Barry Diller is now the lone person on the board of directors overseeing the Newsweek Daily Beast joint venture.
Its future may rest in his hands.
Experts point out, when it comes to funding money-losing media properties, family trusts have a decidedly mixed record.
When Grey Goose booze baron Sidney Frank died suddenly at age 86 in January, 2006, his fledgling Travel Savvy magazine suspended publication and laid off the staff within the month.
On the other hand, Wall Street titan Bruce Wasserstein died suddenly in2009 at age 61, and the family trust that bought New York magazine several years earlier has continued to own and fund it ever since.
Harman and Diller were each on the Newsweek Daily Beast board, with Harman, who contributed his recently acquired Newsweek property, seemingly having slightly more status as the executive chairman.
The joint venture called for each to name one additional representative from each side after the merger was completed in January. But Neither Diller nor Haman ever got around to filling out the board positions before Harman’s death, an IAC spokesman confirmed on Friday.
It would probably help if Harman’s pledge of support for the struggling weekly — which lost about $40 million in the two years before he took it over from the Washington Post Co. — was codified in a will or endowment, said one legal expert.
“Without the visionary and the public trust aspect, it may all come down to what Sidney Harman’s will says,” said Anthony Sabino, an estate lawyer and adjunct professor at St. John’s University Law School.
“Barry Diller is a very savvy, some might say cutthroat, businessman,” said Sabino. “The principal question is going to lie with Harman’s heirs. Do they have the same level of commitment to this venture as he did? If they don’t, does Barry Diller want to buy them out?” Keith J. Kelly
E-books up
Digital book sales outsold printed books to be the No. 1 retail category for the second month in a row, according to just released figures from the Association of American Publishers.
The top digital seller on many lists is Tina Fey‘s “Bossypants,” by Little, Brown. The trend fueled by tablets and e-readers is up 202.3 percent compared to a year earlier with sales of $90.3 million. Audiobooks are also experiencing signifcant increases due to smart phones sales and are up 36.7 percent compared to a year ago with $6.9 million in sales.
The overall trade category was down 34.4 percent. KK