New Order members sued by former bandmate Hook
BASSIST Peter Hook is suing his former Joy Division bandmates for “many millions of pounds” in the High Court, accusing them of secretly “pillaging” the name of their second group New Order and starving him of cash.
The legendary bassist says he is already £2.3m out of pocket due to the underhand tactics of his “former friends” – Bernard Sumner and Stephen and Gillian Morris, both of Rainow, the court heard.
He claims they assetstripped the New Order name, keeping him in the dark about what they were up to until the move became a “fait accompli”.
A new company the trio set up without telling him generated an income of £7.8m in four years – but Mr Hook is getting just a tiny fraction of that, the court heard.
His barrister, Mark Wyeth QC, said: “It was as though George Harrison and Ringo Starr got together at George’s house one night and acted together to divest Paul McCartney of his shareholding in the Beatles, and didn’t tell Yoko about it either.”
Mr Sumner and Mr and Mrs Morris insist they treated Mr Hook, who last played with the band in 2007, fairly and that his stake in the band’s royal- ties is reasonable.
They say his campaign will achieve nothing apart from threatening them with “potentially disastrous” lawyers’ bills of up to £1m.
However, Judge David Cooke has now cleared Mr Hook of acting out of “spite” and opened the way for him to pursue complaints to a full trial.
The judge said there had been “vitriolic criticism on both sides” – but rejected claims that Mr Hook’s “true motive” was to get back into the band.
The case hinges on events in 2011 when Mr Sumner and Mr and Mrs Morris formed a new company – in secret Mr Hook claims.
Mr Hook, of Alderley Edge, says the move exiled him from his musical past and cost him a fortune.
He only receives 1.25 per cent of the band’s royalties and income from merchandise and per- formances – but says it should be up to 12.5pc.
Mr Wyeth said his former bandmates’ “clandestine” move had already cost him £2.3m by October last year.
However, David Casement QC, for the band members, said they had acted “entirely reasonably” and described Mr Hook’s complaints as “completely misconceived”.
Urging the ex-bandmates to compromise, Judge Cooke concluded: “I strongly urge the parties to seek to resolve the issues between them by entering into some commercial negotiations so that they do not incur the expense of pursuing this matter to trial”.
Before forming New Order Mr Hook, Mr Sum- ner and Mr Morris played together in Joy Division with Macclesfield’s Ian Curtis.