Don Henley Files Lawsuit Seeking Return of Personal ‘Hotel California’ Lyric Sheets

Don Henley has filed a lawsuit seeking the return of the personal Eagles lyric sheets that were recently the subject of a separate criminal trial .

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While the charges against former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and rock memorabilia dealer Edward Kosinski were abruptly dropped during the trial in March, the Eagles singer filed a lawsuit Thursday to regain ownership of the seized lyric sheets, including handwritten lyrics from the Hotel California era.

“Don Henley has filed suit today in a New York federal court for return of property that was stolen from him —his private handwritten notes and lyrics to the iconic songs from the Hotel California album,” Henley’s lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, said in a statement to Rolling Stone .

“These 100 pages of personal lyric sheets belong to Mr. Henley and his family, and he has never authorized defendants or anyone else to peddle them for profit.”

Inciardi, Kosinski and rare-books dealer Glenn Horowitz (who was not named in Henley’s lawsuit) each faced criminal charges of conspiring to possess stolen property in relation to the attempted auction of the lyrics, which the trio acquired from writer Ed Sanders; Sanders was given the lyrics decades earlier while penning a never-completed Eagles book, and simply never returned the lyrics to Henley and the late Glenn Frey.

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Since the surprising conclusion of the criminal trial, the lyrics have remained in the custody of the District Attorney’s Office in New York (DANY), pending a decision over its rightful owner. In the lawsuit filed Thursday, obtained by Rolling Stone , Henley lays out his case for the lyrics’ return.

“Because Kosinski and Inciardi have wrongly claimed ownership of Henley’s lyric sheets, a declaration from this Court that Henley is the lawful owner is needed to supply ‘satisfactory proof of his title’ and facilitate the DANY’s return of Henley’s lyric sheets to Henley,” the lawsuit states.

“Because Kosinski and Inciardi have also claimed title over Henley’s lyric sheets, the issue must be decided in a civil court with appropriate jurisdiction.”

Henley “demands a jury trial for all issues so triable,” added the lawsuit, which arrives three months before the Eagles kick off their Sphere residency .

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