Eagles' 'Hotel California' criminal trial over stolen lyric pages is 'about the names involved': 'A gold mine'
A Manhattan judge will decide if three men attempted to "Take it to the Limit" — and sell allegedly stolen lyric pages from The Eagles.
Don Henley is expected to take the stand and testify against Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski, who were charged with conspiracy in the fourth degree for allegedly attempting to sell manuscripts which included "developmental lyrics to the Eagles song 'Hotel California,'" according to the original indictment filed by the New York District Attorney's office in 2022.
The manuscripts are collectively valued at over $1 million, according to the District Attorney.
Eric Anderson, counsel at Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae, explained to Fox News Digital that this case is "absolutely about the names involved."
"Handwritten lyrics from the Eagles to what is arguably their most iconic song from one of the best-selling albums of all time? That is a gold mine, both in terms of value on the auction/memorabilia market and in terms of publicity," Anderson said.
Decades ago, Ed Sanders allegedly stole notepads from The Eagles while working on an authorized book about the band in the '70s. The biography was never published, but Sanders reportedly kept the handwritten work and later sold the pages to Horowitz, a rare-book dealer, for $50,000.
EAGLES' DON HENLEY URGES CONGRESS TO CHANGE COPYRIGHT LAW
Horowitz then sold pages to Craig Inciardi, a former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator, and memorabilia collector Edward Kosinski. Inciardi and Kosinski attempted to sell pages of the lyrics through Kosinski's company, Gotta Have Rock and Roll, but were caught by Henley in 2012.
Henley then purchased the "original handwritten lyrics for the Eagles song ‘Hotel California’ written in Don Henley's hand," for $8,500 on April 25, 2012, according to the indictment.
Two years later, Koskinski attempted to contact Sotheby's and sell "Eagles handwritten lyrics in Don Hendleys [sic] hand for New Kid In Town." Shortly after, Inciardi sent a similar email notifying the auction house that developmental lyrics for "Life in the Fast Lane" were also available for sale.
"When Don Henley learned that Inciardi and Kosinski were trying to sell portions of the manuscripts, he filed police reports, told the defendants that the materials were stolen, and demanded the return of his property," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., said in a statement released with the charges in 2022.
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"Rather than making any effort to ensure they actually had rightful ownership, the defendants responded by engaging in a years-long campaign to prevent Henley from recovering the manuscripts."
Throughout 2015, Kosinski and Inciardi continued their attempts to sell 13 pages of developmental lyrics to "Hotel California." In December 2016, the DA’s office executed search warrants and retrieved Henley’s stolen manuscripts from both Sotheby’s and Kosinski's New Jersey residence, according to the DA.
"Shortly thereafter, Horowitz attempted to exploit the recent death of founding Eagles member Glenn Frey to prevent criminal prosecution; he produced a new false statement of provenance, this time claiming that the materials originated from the now-deceased Frey," the DA shared in a statement. "In one email message, Horowitz observed that "[Frey] alas, is dead and identifying him as the source would make this go away once and for all."
Representatives for Horowitz, Inciardi, Kosinski and Henley did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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Anderson noted that the allegations "indicate that Horowitz, Inciardi, and Kosinski likely did not know the items were stolen when they purchased them."
"But according to the claims, once they became aware, instead of working the issue out with the Eagles, they lied about how they acquired the lyrics and did everything possible to delay and disguise the truth. They claimed that they were given the lyrics by Henley's deceased bandmate, Glenn Frey," he said.
"While this easily could have been addressed via a civil matter, I think the length of time involved may be what led to a criminal charge here and what appears to be a complete lack of effort on the part of the defendants to resolve this outside of a criminal proceeding. Also, it's clear that they still attempted to sell the lyrics after there was doubt raised about whether the lyrics were ever legally obtained in the first place."
Anderson added, "This case is going to come down to proving the lyrics were stolen in the first place and then addressing the various evidentiary problems of that after so much time, but the defense can be in the same hole. It is not as if Glenn Fry is going to come and testify that he gave permission for the notepads to be taken."