Industry Source: “Mick Mars Could Launch New MÖTLEY CRÜE With Legal Victory”

It appears the stakes in the MÖTLEY CRÜE legal battle has jumped up another level due to some new details that have leaked from the counsel of ex-MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars. According to an industry source, ousted Crue guitarist Mick Mars would not only regain his full 25% stake in MÖTLEY CRÜE with a legal victory, but Mick would possibly also have the chance to gain total control of the Crue’s name since he was the one who originally named the band, plus wrote the band’s most famous guitar riffs and was for all intent and purposes being intentionally “gaslighted” by his own partners in the business venture, who were sabotaging The Stadium Tour in 2022 and trying to ruin the band’s legacy, along with Mr. Mars’ name.

“Mick Mars sued Mötley Crüe for what he claims is the band forming a campaign to kick him out of the group and remove him from his ownership in the band’s company after he retired from touring last year. Mars’ attorney Edwin McPherson filed the lawsuit on behalf of the guitarist in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court” – Variety

Let’s get one thing straight. Mick Mars is MÖTLEY CRÜE, in the heart of all Crue fans around the world.

The fact is that the trademark for the band is owned by Motley Crue, Inc. – Registration Number 3264871 – Serial Number 78965606 : and so that means the four original band members own it together, if each retains their normal 25% stakeholder status when all is said and done. Keep in mind, Sixx was trying to reduce Mick’s stake down to only 5%.

The other issue is that troubled singer Vince Neil has been battling alcoholism abuse in a very public way, which is the main reason the band opted to have Neil lip-synching for a majority of last year’s concerts, due to being “too messed up” to sing, according to the leaked court document. Believe it or not, there is secret discussion that Neil will be the one who comes out of this legal battle, along with Sixx, as having shown the most negligence in the band’s business affairs and duties as stakeholders in the Crue. Tommy Lee is also on the chopping block, due to being caught by TMD “fake drumming” near the end of the tour and for being the alleged instigator in a fight with Neil during rehearsal that is what led to his broken ribs, and subsequent absence from most of the initial comeback dates. In the court’s eye, any unreasonable action that makes it into discovery before the court that shows intentional malice toward the business entity, and Mr. Mars could sink any defendant’s individual ability to prove that Mick Mars was a liability to the band he helped create.

gas·light

[ˈɡasˌlīt]

VERB

gaslighted (past tense)

1. manipulate (someone) using psychological methods into questioning their own sanity, memory, or powers of reasoning.

At the center of the dispute is whether or not Mr. Mars, who is a 25% shareholder in Mötley Crüe’s businesses, can remain a shareholder, or even a member of the band alongside singer Vince Neil, bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee.

According to media reports, “The two parties aren’t seeing eye to eye on Mars’ future involvement with the act following his October announcement that he could no longer tour with the group. (His last concert with the “Kickstart My Heart” and “Shout at the Devil” musicians was Sept. 9, 2022, and the band has continued touring with guitarist John 5.)”

In his lawsuit, Mick Mars alleges that the other members of Mötley Crüe tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group’s corporation and business holdings.

“When he did not go away quietly, they purported to fire him from six additional band corporations and LLCs,” the attorneys said.

In Mars’ defense, “He also made it very clear that he was not retiring, and that he would make himself readily available for recording, Vegas (or other locations) residences, and any other band related activities,” the attorneys said, adding that Mars received assurances from the band’s managers that “everything would be fine.”

The bottom line is that Mick Mars was sick and tired of being involved in a trainwreck on concert stages across America that everyone else didn’t seem to mind, and this along with the constant mocking of his advanced age and spinal condition is what ultimately forced him to step away from the most favorite thing he ever did in his entire life:

PLAY MUSIC FOR MÖTLEY CRÜE FANS

When the band’s 2022 shows were ridiculed nationally by the top rock critics, it had become clear to everyone watching, that something was definitely not right. Neil seemed to be heavier than ever and appeared to be doing lip-synching for most of the concerts. Mars was the only one performing live 100%. The others worked off “backing tapes” and other assorted tricks of the trade.

When Tommy Lee got busted by Rocket of TMD “fake drumming” word spread to all the national iHeart radio stations, dozens and dozens, exposing the sensational news story to millions of readers overnight.

“This is a clown show at this point…” is what Mars said about his own band, in the leaked court document.

As the story goes, MÖTLEY CRÜE got their name from an incident that occurred when guitarist Mick Mars was playing with a band called White Horse, when one of the other band members called the group “a motley looking crew”… Mars remembered the phrase and later copied it down as ‘Mottley Cru’.

False advertising is the basis for Mars’ lawsuit, in which he claims that his band “ripped off” him and the fans last year with non-authentic concert performances, all of which has been proven with video evidence.

Consumers and business competitors have the additional right and ability to sue for false advertising under the Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act (which is the main US trademark law).

Technically, if malice is indeed determined to be involved from all the other parties but not Mick, it would show to the court that the original person who named the band and did everything right to keep its brand intact and above board from a financial standpoint, is now entitled to majority ownership (over 50% of the company’s shares).

Majority Shareholder, also known as a controlling shareholder, is an individual or a corporation that owns the majority of the stock of the company. I.e., more than 50% of the stock enjoys more voting power than other shareholders. These shareholders are in a position to influence the company’s decisions and can select or replace the board of directors. – Wallstreetmojo.com

Majority shareholders ultimately can make crucial decisions about the company’s direction.

This means Mick could essentially fire Vince, Tommy and Nikki for being derelict of their duties in the band. Then he could hire new members who can really sing live and actually play their instruments without backing tracks assistance, basically forming the real MÖTLEY CRÜE band.

(Pictured: John Corabi, the only Crue singer to sing on an album titled MÖTLEY CRÜE.)

Scope of Dispute—How Much Discovery Required

In an arbitration proceeding, discovery is typically more restricted, and it may further be limited by the arbitration provision, which caps the number of depositions and narrows the scope of document discovery.  Under these circumstances, the defending party (the respondent) may be hamstrung by these discovery limitations in defending against the claimant’s allegations in arbitration.

So, by Sixx’s legal counsel in asking for private arbitration to keep “dirt” on the band out of the public, it could end up hurting their ability to fight this massive legal war versus Mick Mars, who said on record that The Stadium Tour was the worst 36 shows he ever played with MÖTLEY CRÜE.