Jake Holmes finally does it - lawsuit over "Dazed & Confused"

Interesting way to phrase things. You might equally have said that Led Zeppelin agreed to a settlement on the second day of trial; the settlement was in Dixon's favour.

 

Good one, David!

 

Usually when parties settle out of court, it's because each party has a risk involved by taking the case to trial.

1) If the Zeppelin camp were to lose, they risk having to pay out a lot more than what they settled with Dixon for.

2) If Dixon were to lose, he has the risk of a zero verdict plus attorney fees so by taking the settlement, even though most likely less than what he wanted, he eliminates that risk.

Basically, it's a business decision by both parties involved to settle out of court. Usually there is no admission of guilt or wrong doing by the defendant even if that out of court settlement involves listing the plaintiff as one writers of the song.

 

Exactly.

 

I phrased it that way based on the judge's comments at the time.

But yes, it was of course a mutual agreement. Both sides agreed to settle on the 2nd day of trial.

 

Update: the case was "dismissed with prejudice" in January:

http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/cacdce/2:2010cv04789/476306/27

Sounds like there was an out-of-court settlement. The document says "The Court deems it appropriate to treat the November 7, 2011 Stipulation as a request by the Plaintiff, to which the Defendants have no objection, for a Court Order dismissing the action."

I'm guessing that Holmes wouldn't have made such a stipulation if he hadn't settled.