Iron Maiden says this has been sorted out due to escalating legal fees. In a statement, the band said it still denies Quinn`s claim that some of his lyrics were stolen. Maiden removed „Hallowed Be Thy Name“ from their setlist last year after the band became embroiled in the legal dispute. The agreement means that the band can now perform the song again during their concerts. If Andy Taylor and Rod Smallwood (Harris/Murray/Iron Maiden managers) had presented accurate figures for the two Maiden songs that infringed the copyright of „Life`s Shadow“ at the start of the trial (which they did not do) and Brian Quinn had then offered a fair settlement of around £250,000, Steve Harris and Dave Murray could have saved around £600,000 in legal fees. Instead, they wanted a fight and they got one. This whole affair, caused by an apparent theft of copyright, cost Harris and Murray a total of £900,000 in damages and legal fees for literally saving two verses of lyrics from „Hallowed Be Thy Name“ and copying the music they used in the Iron Maiden song „The Nomad“ that appeared on Iron Maiden`s album „Brave New World“. released in 2000, eighteen years after the release of the album `The Number Of The Beast`, which included `Hallowed Be Thy Name`. Some time ago, due to a legal battle with bassist Steve Harris and guitarist Dave Murray, Iron Maiden essentially pulled out when they performed one of their most famous songs, „Hallowed Be Thy Name“. Iron Maiden settled its nearly year-long legal battle over the 1982 classic „Hallowed Be Thy Name.“ The lawsuit of retired manager Barry McKay alleges that Maiden`s Steve Harris and Dave Murray reproduced large parts of British prog band Beckett`s 1974 song „Life`s Shadow“ over Maiden`s „Hallowed Be Thy Name“ and Brave New World`s „The Nomad.“ „The defendants [Steve Harris and Dave Murray] paid all plaintiffs substantial legal fees, as well as their own legal fees and six-figure damages.“ It is hereby announced that bassist and bandleader Steve Harris, along with guitarist Dave Murray, were the defendants in the Iron Maiden plagiarism lawsuit (see attached documents), which settled a claim for damages filed in February 2017 by former LINDISFARNE manager Barry McKay. Iron Maiden now has permission to use previously misappropriated works without further dispute.

This settlement avoids a trial against Steve Harris and Dave Murray, as well as the other two defendants, which would have taken place in 2018. The entire claim was settled in full, with final and total costs for the defendants amounting to £900,000. This regulation avoids litigation and Maiden now has „permission to use previously misappropriated works without further litigation.“ In paragraph 22 of Steve Harris` defense, Harris ridiculously asserts that he thought he didn`t need permission to use the text of Life`s Shadow. This contradicts his statement in paragraph 13 above. Harris went on to explain that he had „ALREADY used phrases from Coleridge`s poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (for the IRON Maiden track of the same name) without objection.“ Iron Maiden`s song „The Rime of the Ancient Mariner“ was first recorded and released in 1984, TWO YEARS AFTER Hallowed Be Thy Name was recorded on Iron Maiden`s 1982 album POWERSLAVE. Samuel Taylor Coleridge`s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was written in 1797-98 and published in 1798. Copyright on the original work expired in 1905, meaning no permission was required to copy Coleridge`s original poem, and so, of course, there was no objection, two years after Harris had already stolen the lyrics from the BECKETT album. Iron Maiden management did not provide exact figures for the two songs, which contained stolen lyrics and music, until both sides had already spent more than half a million pounds on legal fees. After reviewing the lower-than-expected numbers, both parties have agreed to settle the claim,“ said Barry McKay, Brian Quinn`s attorney. The legal dispute over who deserves credit for writing Iron Maiden`s „Hallowed Be Thy Name“ seems settled — but it also seems that conductor and chief composer Steve Harris can expect another claim in the not-too-distant future. At the heart of the dispute was that „Hallowed Be Thy Name“ would have borrowed a series of lines from an early 1970s song called „Life`s Shadow“ attributed to Robert Barton and Brian Ingham (aka Brian Quinn). The song was written by Quinn in 1969 and later recorded by Barton with his then band Beckett and released in 1974.

Harris, in particular, was a fan of the band. Barton, one of the co-authors of „Life`s Shadow,“ has already been paid by Steve Harris through a secret settlement that cost defendants £200,000 in legal fees and damages. Meanwhile, however, co-writer Quinn knew nothing about the colony, not receiving a penny when he wrote the song`s lyrics and guitar solo. A legal dispute over the loan of the classic Iron Maiden song „Hallowed By Thy Name“ is coming to an end. The lawyer says Harris has a „lame excuse“ for stealing the lyrics of „Life`s Shadow“ and is preparing to launch „a brand new copyright lawsuit“ against Harris, Murray and the publisher of Iron Maiden. As Blabbermouth reports, the case is now resolved, as Iron Maiden and the members of Beckett have been settled out of court due to escalating legal fees. „This whole lawsuit was primarily about and stemmed from the dishonest actions of Steve Harris. The defense`s apology with numbers 16 to 23 was pretty ridiculous, but point 21 revealed that Rod Smallwood, a seasoned manager, was aware of this copyright theft and yet did nothing to stop it. As a former manager of various musicians, including LINDISFARNE and the late Alan Hull, I would never have tolerated such behaviour during the same period. Even Alan Hull or Lindisfarne or anyone I`ve worked with would have stolen other songwriters` music or lyrics, tricking them and stealing their legitimate songwriter credits.

This led to the conclusion that Rod Smallwood (an experienced rock band manager) and Steve Harris had made a conscious decision to cheat. Last year, heavy metal legends Iron Maiden found themselves embroiled in a legal battle over the writing credits for their 1982 song „Hallowed Be Thy Name,“ often considered one of the greatest metal songs of all time. Now the group has settled its case. Harris and Murray initially denied the plagiarism allegations against them and attempted to partially defend themselves by saying that the repealed texts were originally intended to serve as guidance and that the original registration plans did not allow them to change them. As a result of the settlement, Harris and Murray paid £100,000 in damages and McKay and Quinn`s legal fees, totalling £285,000, in addition to their own legal fees. „We don`t believe Brian Quinn was the one who wrote these six lines in question more than 40 years ago, as Barry McKay claimed,“ the AMID spokesperson said. However, due to escalating legal fees and potentially huge litigation costs, it was pragmatic to reluctantly settle this lawsuit with McKay for £100,000 [about $139,000], a fraction of what he had sued for. A serial litigant like Mr. McKay would have anticipated.

Steve Harris stated in the TV/DVD documentary Classic Albums: Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast, which was released on the 26th. It was released in November 2001 under the direction of Tim Kirkby, with lengthy interviews with Steve Harris and the song Hallowed Be Thy Name: „When I write a song and if that`s the case, if it only has my name on it, then I wrote everything, you know, except the guitar solos.“ „If you see credits with only my name on them, it means I write absolutely everything. Rhythm guitar parts, guitar melodies, vocal melodies, everything.