Yoko Ono has told a New York court that she has reached a settlement deal with Frederic Seaman, a former personal assistant of John Lennon who was accused of breaching a previous commitment to not publicly talk about his time working for the late Beatle.
Seaman ultimately pled guilty to second-degree larceny and was ordered to return all the items he had taken. But then in the 1990s it emerged that he had not, in fact, given back all the items he’d removed from Lennon’s home. He also further annoyed Ono by publishing a book called ‘The Last Days Of John Lennon’ which, he later admitted, included “factually inaccurate” claims.
Ono first went formally legal in 1999, resulting in a settlement deal in 2003 in which Seaman agreed to finally return all the items he’d taken in the months after Lennon’s death, and to never talk about his time working for the musician again.
Then last September, as media started to run new features about Lennon ahead of what would have been his 80th birthday in October, Seaman gave an interview about his former employer.
In the new lawsuit subsequently filed by Ono, her legal reps wrote: “Despite his clear and unambiguous obligations [in the 2003 agreement], on 10 Sep 2020, Seaman sat for an interview from his apartment, flanked by Lennon memorabilia and wilfully, wantonly and contumaciously violated the clear and ambiguous terms of [the previous agreement]”.
Seaman also said in that interview that he planned to publish a revised and expanded version of ‘The Last Days Of John Lennon’. “As a direct consequence of Seaman’s actions, Mrs Lennon has suffered and will suffer irreparable harm”, Ono’s lawsuit added. The lawsuit accused Seaman of fraud, breach of contract and copyright infringement, and sought a new injunction restraining Seaman plus at least $150,000 in damages.
However, in a court filing this week, Ono told the court that she had reached a settlement deal with Seaman. He will formally acknowledge that he has violated the 2003 agreement, both via the specific interview that took place last September, and other interviews he has given. He will also pay Ono $5000 in damages for copyright infringement.
The court filing added: “Seaman also admits that he does not have any rights in or to any photographs he took of the Lennon family and acknowledges he and his estate are perpetually enjoined from speaking about John Lennon, Yoko Ono Lennon or Sean Lennon in any capacity whatsoever including but not limited to the publication by any means, including but not limited to publishing any book or articles or otherwise publicly disclosing such information”.
Yoko Ono has informed a federal judge in New York that she has reached a settlement with her late husband John Lennon's former personal assistant that would end her lawsuit that alleged copyright infringement.
The deal ends 20 years of litigation and requires Frederic Seaman to pay $5000 and stop speaking about Lennon.
"Seaman is precluded from making any statements to a third party concerning or relating to John Lennon individually or as a member of the Beatles, Yoko Ono Lennon or Sean Lennon other than an attorney-client discussion," the settlement agreement said.
In February 1979, Seaman was hired as an employee of the Lennon household helping to care for their son Sean, running errands for the Lennon family, and accompanying Lennon, Mrs. Lennon and their son in many of their travels, court records said.
"That Seaman is a miscreant and self-promoter is incontrovertible: his first instinct after the horrific murder of John Lennon was to rob the Lennon Family for the purpose of gaining fame and fortune from exploiting a 'self-created' celebrity status," according to Ono's lawsuit that accused him of stealing personal items and defaming her.
"He would not only profit financially from Lennon's death, but he would also defame Mrs. Lennon and falsely attempt to portray himself as Lennon's only true confidante by falsely enhancing his status as a gofer," the lawsuit said.
No comments:
Post a Comment