Don Henley, renowned musician and member of the Eagles, has filed a lawsuit demanding the return of his handwritten lyrics for the iconic hit song, “Hotel California.” The lawsuit comes after Henley’s criminal case against three individuals involved in attempting to sell the developmental lyrics was dropped by a New York court.
Henley’s lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, stated that the 100 pages of personal lyric sheets were stolen from his client and belong to him and his family. Henley has never authorized anyone, including the defendants, to profit from the sale of these lyrics.
The original indictment filed by the New York District Attorney’s office in 2022 charged Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi, and Edward Kosinski with conspiracy for their alleged involvement in attempting to sell the developmental lyrics to “Hotel California.” The handwritten pages are currently in the custody of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, as stated in the new lawsuit.
The criminal case was dropped during the trial due to the emergence of newly available emails that raised questions about the fairness of the proceedings. Henley decided to waive attorney-client privilege, allowing the emails to be presented as evidence after he and other prosecution witnesses had already testified.
Henley’s newly hired attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, expressed concern over the need to forsake attorney-client privilege and criticized the unjust outcome. He affirmed that Henley would pursue all his rights in the civil courts.
The manuscripts, collectively valued at over $1 million, were allegedly stolen decades ago by Ed Sanders, who worked on an authorized book about the Eagles in the 1970s. Sanders reportedly sold the pages to Glenn Horowitz, a rare-book dealer, for $50,000. Horowitz then sold some of the pages to Craig Inciardi, a former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator, and memorabilia collector Edward Kosinski.
Inciardi and Kosinski attempted to sell portions of the lyrics through Kosinski’s company, Gotta Have Rock and Roll, but were caught by Henley in 2012. Henley subsequently purchased the original handwritten lyrics for “Hotel California” for $8,500. However, Kosinski later attempted to contact Sotheby’s to sell lyrics for another Eagles song, “New Kid In Town,” falsely claiming they were written by Henley.
Prosecutors stated that instead of ensuring rightful ownership, the defendants engaged in a years-long campaign to prevent Henley from recovering his stolen property. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office executed search warrants in December 2016, retrieving Henley’s stolen manuscripts from both Sotheby’s and Kosinski’s residence in New Jersey.
Glenn Horowitz, in an attempt to evade criminal prosecution, produced a false statement of provenance after the death of Eagles member Glenn Frey. Horowitz claimed that the materials originated from Frey, hoping it would make the case go away. However, the district attorney’s office exposed this deception.
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As a musician and songwriter myself, this story really resonates with me. It's a reminder of the importance of protecting our creative work and intellectual property. It's disheartening to hear that Don Henley had to go through such a legal battle to reclaim his handwritten lyrics.
This situation has motivated me to take a closer look at my own songwriting process and how I can better protect my work. One of my goals is to establish a system for securely storing and backing up my handwritten lyrics and