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Obligations After Quitting a Band

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  • 06-07-2010, 02:40 PM
    el321
    Obligations After Quitting a Band
    Hello. Not sure I came to the right place or not, but thought I would post a question and see.

    I couple months ago I agreed to help out a band with some gigs in the month of May. I fulfilled that commitment and also played a gig this past weekend (June) as a courtesy. I never signed a contract with this band. I never committed (in writing) to being a permanent member nor accepted any other offers to play subsequent gigs with this band. They put a calendar online so we could enter days we are busy so they knew when we all were available for rehearsals. They claim that is our legal band contract committing to gigs and rehearsals going forward. I had no intent on staying with this band and told the band leader that I was not happy with it and would do the June gig and we would discuss my departure. That conversation was mainly over the phone with some email discussion surrounding it, but still no written contracts stating I was a band member and committed to any gigs whatsoever. After this past weekend's gig, me and the drummer sent an email stating we would no longer perform with them, but agreed to do a gig with them this coming weekend as a courtesy. The band leader sent us an email and threatened to sue us for putting them in a bad position for future gigs. With no written contract and neither of us committed verbally or in writing to any future gigs, can they sue us for this? Do we need to hire an attorney to protect ourselves? I doubt this matters, but the reason we did not want to pursue any more future gigs is because we were lied to repeatedly and treated very poorly by the band leader(s). I do this for fun and there's little to no money in it. I spent all my money on baby sitters and gear! :) We have a lot of email discussions surrounding our concerns with them, but what it simply gets down to is me and the drummer did not like working with these people and decided we would not help them any further.

    I realize you only have the information I am telling you here, but if anyone has legal advice they can give me based on the facts above, I would love to hear it! I just want to know basically if they can sue us and what can they sue us for?

    Thank you for your assistance!
    -Tom
  • 06-07-2010, 11:29 PM
    KeyWestDan
    Re: Obligations After Quitting a Band
    Without a written contract they could not possibly win a civil action.

    Anyone can sue anyone, but it would not go far. The only cause of action possible would be breach of contract. In most states that could not be done in small claims, so it would cost them some serious money to attempt it.

    In addition, there is no such thing as involuntary servitude.

    Other members of the band can't make commitments for the band without your participation and then argue they will suffer some injury if you don't perform with them.

    Threatening to sue someone without legal justification to obtain some benefit from them is a criminal offense in many states
  • 06-08-2010, 12:54 PM
    LawResearcherMissy
    Re: Obligations After Quitting a Band
    Certainly, they could sue. But do understand that "sue" and "prevail" are two entirely different things.

    "Sue" = "Please, your Honor, I've been damaged by the defendant's actions!"

    "Prevail" = "Bad, defendant! Bad! Give the Plaintiff money!"

    With no contract - either verbal or written - and e-mails discussing that you're leaving, the band's leader hasn't got a leg to stand on.
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