Do NOT Cover The Eagles or Don Henley -Don Henley Against Small Musicians 

I turn the radio off when they come on because I don't want to get sued for listening to them

I was playing Hotel California yesterday and a green laser appeared and sliced my guitar in half. Now I can only play it on a ukulele.

I can't imagine being that rich and also that petty at the same time.

If no one is able to play the music, the eagles music will be forever forgotten.

Working as a flight attendant, you get to see people as they really are. I served Mr. Henley three separate times over a period of about 15 years. Twice he was traveling with one of the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. He was such a miserable prick. I can’t imagine being so unhappy with life. The lady he was traveling with, was doing her best to calm him down and smooth things over for him, but he insisted on being miserable. The third and final time he boarded our flight he was alone. I guess that sweet beautiful lady he was traveling with finally had enough of his BS.

Even Don Henley's worried about singing Eagles songs live - that's why he mimes them. Allegedly ;)

Henley is a jerk. Look how he has treated his bandmates over the years. He is rich, but can never get enough $$$. He needs to be sued for "allegedly" MIMING his songs during his live concerts, since people are paying outrageous prices to see the "Eagles Tribute Band".

"The business of the musician is music. The business of the professional musician is business. Only become a professional musician if you have no choice." (Robert Fripp)

As the Dude says in The Big Lebowski, "man, i hate the Eagles!"

I'd love to see Henley have a Milli Vanilli moment on stage.

Ok with me, I've heard Hotel California too many times

I was playing an eagles tune on my piano the other day. These three dudes in black suits burst into my house and told me to stop playing it. Then I woke up…

I grew up with a healthy diet of the Eagles. I loved every song the produced. I went on to become a musician and loved playing several Eagles songs. In the last few years however, the way Henley has acted toward small time musicians has completely put me off their music! I can’t listen to any of it anymore :(

Just think about how bitter he must feel about Don Felder cleaning his clock in court if something this innocent bothers him. Henley must wake up mad everyday, poor, sad guy.

Don Felder teaches the Hotel California solo on line. He wrote it. Should be able to use it. Henley can blame his legal team but too bad he doesn’t realize that this will be his legacy and not theirs.

Talk about an incentive to write your own stuff! Henley is the ultimate Grumpy Old man! This is slowly going to end the monopoly of his music! I am meeting more and more young people that haven't a clue who the Eagles are!

Leland Sklar got a copyright strike against a play-long with a James Taylor song that he played on. A couple days and a lot of fan pressure later (possibly even from James) and the strike was removed.

9:25 - How about covering Mojo Nixon's tune "Don Henley Must Die"?

I posted a video I made at a Christmas light show that changed with the melody of "Kids On Christmas", which I'd never even heard of. I didn't monetize it, but youtube still sent a notice that I couldn't, but there was no strike. As to Henley, he is and always has been an a-hole, and not just toward musicians.

Let Henley's music slip into the quicksand of time.

He treated other members like crap including Felder who sued him.

i just had a thought. Don Henley is at a wedding reception. The band plays eagles, and he starts pulling cords out of amps and trying to turn stuff off 😜

Henley is a boomer that should be thinking about his legacy. This is not the way to create a pathway to your music going forward after you're gone.

Henley is the perfect example of how to completely alienate your fanbase and guarantee you'll never make another dollar off your precious royalties. I used to love the Eagles back in the 70's and 80's, but this guy is a real piece of work. Don Henley and The Eagles will gradually fade into non-existence because of his toxic attitude toward other musicians.😠

Sad times for music. Why do people do this? They should be proud that others love their stuff so much to care about learning it and taking it out to the world. And everyone knows who originally wrote those songs. As long as you don’t claim someone elses songs as your own, no harm is done.

that level of PRICKLINESS takes practice. piece of work

Musicians do not have the legal right to prevent people from playing covers, as long as appropriate royalties are paid. But RU-vid doesn't want to put forth the effort of dealing with it.

I got two strikes within 15 minutes - both guitar only demos (Hotel California and Boys Of Summer). I had to remove about 27 Eagles demos. I managed to put a few back up credited to the actual writers (Tom Waits, Gene Clark, Bernie Leadon, Jackson Browne etc). I don’t promote the Eagles in any way now which makes me a little sad. DH really is destroying the once rich legacy of that band.

I posted a video of my band singing live a number of years ago. I had a copyright strike from the Eagles. We weren't singing any Eagles songs but our name was Too Many Hands which happens to be an Eagles song. I appealed but in this day and age you have no power against RU-vid or assholes like the Eagles or Don Henley.

You did a great job of expressing how we all feel about this subject...sadly he will one day realize the Fast Lane comes to an end even for him.

Great video, as always. The issue of copyright crosses my mind a lot, since I only play covers. Thanks for the heads up about Don Henley!

Does it count if I mime the Eagles like Don Henley does? (asking for a friend)

This was exactly why my last RU-vid channel got taken down. It had several Eagles/Don Henley covers on there, and I found out the hard way that RU-vid and Facebook aren't places for covering those artists' music. I had to start over with a new RU-vid channel, and I left the Eagles and Don Henley alone since.

Thanks for doing this video Frank. A very important topic for gigging musicians who occasionally feature short clips of live performances on RU-vid or a website. Best to stay clear entirely of these artists.

In 50 years from now, the Eagles will be long forgotten.

I’ve heard Hotel California enough for one lifetime.

Speaking of rabbit holes, there are actually two parts to a song that have separate copyrights. The first is the song itself (lyrics,melody, etc). The authors of the song (or their contracted partners such as record companies or publishing companies) own this. The second is the Sound Recording of the song. This is separate and belongs to the performers or their contracted partners. If Joe Nobody records a cover of a copyrighted song, the only royalties due are those for the mechanical. If RU-vid grabs all the revenue and gives it to the owner of the mechanical, the performer is getting cheated. To be honest, I have no idea how RU-vid channels the revenue from a cover, so it might not be an isssue at all. But it bears mentioning, especially if Joe Nobody’s cover blows up and becomes a major hit with millions and millions of views.

Bitter old man

Doing a cover usually results in furthering the popularity of the original song and the original artist. Demanding no one covers your song means your song will slowly fall into oblivion.

I've heard "Hotel California" so many times throughout my life that I don't really need to hear it again, ever!

No matter what kind of venue I play; I always crank up my voice harmonizer, for my first song; Seven Bridges Road. It's a head turner. I started guitar late in life, played open jams to learn, and when I did Peaceful Easy Feeling my way, and the other players weren't digging it. I started writing my own songs. 400 Originals later, I've actually received 2 royalty checks ( yup. big money ,right?) What an honor as a Songwriter that someone else wants to play your Original. Don Henley, you get your money. Don't forget how it feels to have someone honor you by playing your creation. So. Don, or Frank, or RU-vid Folks, if you want to play " Somewhere East of A1A" , key of D#, go ahead and help me remember why I wrote songs in the first place!! Fantastic Video and info Frank, Thanks Man!!

Really interesting topic frank

A very informative post. Thank you!

Boys Of Summer had been one of my all time favorite songs since the first time I heard it. I have a RU-vid channel with 180 acoustic covers on it, so of course I put my cover of Boys Of Summer on my channel. It was there for maybe 6 months and didn’t get very many views because the RU-vid generation doesn’t know who he is, or care (they like Springsteen though, at least on my channel). Anyway, I got a Copyright Strike and it was taken down. Don Henley can kiss my …

I've had good fun with this. When I got excited about uploading youtube videos in 2018, I was aghast when I had a copyright strike. I had one strike and one copyright claim. The songs were "Peaceful Easy Feeling" (Eagles) and "The River" (Bruce Springsteen). I don't remember which one was the claim and which one was the strike. I had one friend who saw the immense humour given that my chops in 2018 were so rudimentary. To this day, it's a running joke. I haven't had a "strike" since despite uploading many covers. I've covered "Slowdive" five times and they haven't once placed a copyright claim (very cool cast of characters). Lately, I've been revisiting "The Last Resort" to remind myself of Henley's immense talent. One day he may look back and conclude that this internet policing initiative has all been much "Wasted Time".

The music of the Eagles simply needs to pass into history like the Eagles themselves. Forgotten by future generations as per their wishes.

A year or two ago I heard a live Hendrix song on a random RU-vid channel and thought the Hendrix estate must have finally lifted their draconian (and stupid) ban on others posting his music. So a couple days later I uploaded five or six live Hendrix songs I had from a great CD that I got a long time ago to my RU-vid channel. I figured they would be flagged if there was a copyright violation and that if there wasn't, the videos would be de-monitized at least (so any revenue from views would go to the Hendrix estate, which I thought was perfectly reasonable. I wasn't after money or clicks - just wanted to share some great, rare, clean live versions of some songs with fellow fans.) About a week or two later, I was informed by RU-vid that one of these videos had received a copyright strike from Sony Music and as such had been taken down. I immdiately took down the remaining videos and promptly wrote an email to Sony explaining the situation and apologizing for my accidental infringement. Needless to say, they did not respond nor did they take back my strike. Sadly, I now hold a grudge against Sony and Hendrix's estate and basically avoid anything they are tied to. Let them all fade away.

I appreciate the video. I got my first strike for covering Desperado. I have a few other Eagles songs I better remove. Thanks, Frank 👍👍🙏🙏

I got hit with a copyright strike, when I put my rendition of one of Don Henley‘s songs on RU-vid. It had like 2 views.

You can post covers on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music and the other streamers. As long as you're not uploading a video, you're golden. Those music streaming services pay the license(s) needed to legally play songs, originals, covers or otherwise. Bryan Adams and Led Zeppelin will also have your video of their songs taken down. Henley is addicted to litigating people as much as anyone with cosmetic surgery addiction. Leland Sklar, the renowned bass player, had a video taken down because he was filming while walking past a bar that was playing "Dirty Laundry." Those 8 seconds earned him a copyright strike. I hope someone with means, and the time, sues Henley for lip-synching during his "live" Eagles' performances.

This guy speaks the truth, I got a strike a couple years ago for covering “Boys Of Summer”. What a tight ass Henley must be, pathetic

My cover of Desperado was deleted despite other covers on there being there years. It was my first copyright strike

I wish I could say I’m surprised by this, unfortunately, I’m not. I remember watching the eagles documentary several years ago. I was struck by the commentary by Glen Frey. He said that when they got the original lineup back together in the nineties, that he and Henley would be paid more than the other members. His reasoning was that only he and Henley were the only members that went on to successful solo careers post eagles. I believe his words were they were the only two “ that did anything “. I was taken back by this. The truth is, they wanted more because they thought they were better than the others and because they were greedier. Based upon what I’m seeing and hearing in this video,Henley is still greedy.

I played Desperado at a talent show at my church, and then uploaded the video to RU-vid. It was banned before it even completely uploaded. Apparently my performance of their song at a church talent show is going to take money away from their recordings. Something needs to be done. On the one hand, I believe someone needs to be compensated for their work, but things have gotten way out of hand. Performance is as much an art as composing and not every musician can write good music. Musicians have been performing for thousands of years without writing their own music, and it's only in the 20th century that musicians have started being banned from performing the works of composers due to copyright law.

Great content. Your accent takes me home - NJ? NY? As a transplanted New Yorker I noticed it immediately.

This time of year I normally do an open air thing at the Farmers Market in our local park. This year they stopped because of this crap. They're afraid someone will post a video and ASCAP will see it. They like to sue venues because of copyright issues. The thing is, all musicians learn from one another. And every performance is in and of itself and when I do covers I really try to make them my own interpretation.

Don Henley and other artists who block and give out copywrite strikes don't seem to understand that RU-vidrs are promoting their music. They are actually hurting themselves.

Don Henley is destroying the Eagles music by cutting off people from small-time covering and introducing new listeners to their music. No longer sharing this once great music with the world. Thanks Don.

Went to see Don Henley in Sydney quite a few years back. Very disappointed that there were no screens as our seats weren’t great. The venue told me that Don wouldn’t pay to operate the screens. What a tight ass

Sadly it happened to me recently with “I Cant Tell You Why”, RU-vid, Facebook and Instagram.

Your suggestion of doing a search before you post a song is a good one. You can also upload a video as private and RU-vid will tell you if the copyright owner will claim it. Although, by that time, you've already put in the work to make the video. Also, there are a few artists who are known to object to covers of their songs but it seems to depend on numbers. So, if you post your cover of "Summer of '69" and you only get 50 views, then maybe Adams won't bother you. But, if it gets 10,000 views, that may be another thing. Ironic since that would mean more money for him.

In 1984 Henley showed up totally smashed at a Mojo Nixon show and joined Mojo's band onstage to sing "Don Henley Must Die". "Then, says Nixon, he walked outside and failed to open his car door because he'd put his key into the wrong Mercedes."

I posted a video years ago about installing siding on a house. The neighbors had some music playing that evidently got picked up in the recording. The only way you could even hear it was if speakers were at full volume but youtubes system picked it up and down went my instructional video I'd spent hours on.

There needs to be a song written to talk about this. So much to put in lyrics. Singer, songwriter, lawyers. Kid Rock has said anyone can cover any of his songs. Even record and release them. He knows it just makes him that much bigger.

And the sad thing is that anyone taking the time to learn an Eagles song is most likely a devoted fan of the band. But I guess Donny already has their money from albums, CDs, concerts and memorabilia, and realizes he can’t squeeze another cent from them. The musical version of Lenin’s “useful idiots.”

Henley's the king of the blockers, besting even McCartney. No music channel I follow even touches the Eagles or Henley because of this. For what it's worth my preferred version of "The Boys of Summer" is The Ataris version, partially for this reason and partially because I just prefer it.

Good info, thanks.

Thank you for making this video.

I was never a fan. Probably because of the thousands of times radio flogged me with their tunes.

Ha.. if Henly wants to claim my sorry renditions of his music.. I wear that as a badge of honour 😂😂😂

As I was watching your video I was playing my guitar, the solo to Hotel California ang Tequila Sunrise. I don' t have a You Tube channel. I gave You a thumbs up.

Thanks for making this video, the more people near about this issue, the more likely it will be fixed. The biggest turn off for me, is when an artist does this crap to people who love their music and want to share it. I can see them being pissed off if you do a terrible cover that is emberassing to watch, or if you try and claim it as your own..I'm fortunate in that I don'tlike most of the popular and over rated stuff anyways. and my channel's not monetized. But it is still annoying.

I've been on YT for 18 years,since 2006. Last week I got my first YT strike for my non-monetized version of "The Boys of Summer", which I posted last Feb. My apologies to the Henley's for...Taking food off the Henley Family table. Once I've had a video taken down , (no strike), for Jimi Hendrix and AC/DC playing in the background.

Paul McCartney is 10x richer than Don Henley. Never once did he go after people on RU-vid to shut them down for playing Yesterday on a ukelele . Ponder that!

So many entertainers behave in a way that takes away any enjoyment I have in their work. I take a pass on most movies now, tv shows, and professional sports. Now one of my favorite groups growing up, the Eagles, is dead to me. Sad.

All artists should, MUST understand that anyone wanting to cover your song, NOTE: not "stealing" it - just covering it, it should not be seen as an infringement but as a compliment. No-one is suggesting they are not the owner. No-one is suggesting the original version is sub par. YT artists are just sharing the music that they love with their fans and it should be seen that way. It's just another way that people discover YOUR music.

I think your advice is correct and I think everybody should boycott all HENLEY OR EAGLES material…in terms of covering and uploading to any streaming services. DON’T DO ANY OF THEM , NO EAGLES!! I also refuse to cover them in any live performances I CONTROL. I do NOT really admire HENLEY’s musicianship or Vocals anyway… I grates on me…I am sick of hearing pretty much any Eagles. anyway..I like Joe Walsh really alone of the Eagles members…they are a corporate cover band now, I would not go see them for free.

I quit having Henley's songs on my channel when I started hearing the rumors. My 76K subscriber channel is a blip in the world of social media but I can't risk losing it because, as you say, it's one of the ways I make a living. I don't have an issue with sharing income with copyright owners -- it's their song after all -- but it's EVIL to issue a copyright strike.

Yea I had a cover of Heart of The Matter taken down and I don't even try to make $ off of any cover song

interesting story that is relative. I run a hockey channel and every year I do a musical video for the start of the season, and the playoffs. This year we covered Hotel California. Now I know all about the Eagles reputation. Like my other songs, we use the music but I rewrite the lyrics to be hockey related. Here was my experience; First, I wanted to use a version of HC that had vocals removed as the backing track. Uploaded as unlisted, No dice, immediately copyrighted and not allowed to be shown. Then, I took 2 different karaoke versions that are already on YT, and uploaded them as unlisted to see if they could be used. Same thing, even though those videos are ALREADY on YT, mine got instantly copyrighted. We then uploaded our own acoustic version without any singing, unlisted....This one was immediately recognized but was allowed to be used with revenue sharing. Go figure. So I sang the song, put it on the channel and no problems, it's up and running sharing revenue, even though the bots recognized the chords from HC. The odd thing is that the way our guitar player played it, yeah it's kinda recognizable but you have to listen to it to really hear it, he just strummed the chords mostly, in a lower key at that. So maybe the less it sounds like the original the more likely it is that they allow it? No idea, especially considering all 3 of the attempts to upload that got copyrighted are already on RU-vid running just fine. Boggles the mind, but in the end I am one of the lucky ones that got away with it I guess.

Titles are not copyrighted, I wish several people could write and release songs titled Hotel California or Take it Easy

I uploaded a video of me playing “ Heart of the Matter” and you tube emailed me to take it down and give me one strike. Too bad Don Henley is one of my favorite singers!

yea i had an eagles vlog and they took it down because there was 30 seconds of the concert in it and so now im going to do a re-edit!

It happened to me as well. I had to change "Boys of Summer" to "Girls of Winter". That one is still there.... Truva Kaplan Obscure Classics

I was also given a copyright strike for covering Desperado.

The sad thing is it affects young artists who are trying to find a footing for their talent on RU-vid. A strike is a big deal and RU-vid is one of the few ways young people can access an audience and many use covers to introduce themselves. People won't click on artists they don't know doing songs they don't know.

If I programed a classic rock station, I would totally remove the Eagles from the playlist.

Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy Don

Henley and Frey are both a POS for how they treated Felder anyway

The Eagles made good music. However, Don Henley's behavior is so disgusting that I no longer listen to them.

Just play the song Paul Shaeffer made for The Letterman Show to avoid copyright called Supercharger. Its brilliant

I've been aying music for 30 yrs. Even when Napster was free and wildly awesome, I didn't download any Henley music. It was just pretentious music to me. Hear it on the radio...cool. thats as much as I need of him.

It’s utter bullshit that Henley has 60 lawyers working to protect his rights.

It's a good thing he's not a chef, where you cannot copyright dishes. He loses nothing when people play his music, it's an honor that he misinterprets as a dishonor. What a tool.

If someone released a version of Take It Easy and Henley tried to copyright strike it, could they counter argue that they were performing Jackson Browne's version, not the Eagles' ?

I’m a member of the Don Henley Copyright Strike Club. I’ve sang acoustic Eagles covers since my first coffeehouse and sports bar gigs. I’ll no longer post these covers. I’m posting originals and covers other than DH.

Henley is a dinosaur from an earlier time. His music will be long forgotten in 10 years. You tube playing the classics to the younger generation keeps them alive.

What do you think of Burton Cummings stopping the Guess Who from preforming any song he wrote while in the Guess Who?

Does this also include "End of The Innocence", because it was actually Bruce Hornsby who wrote that song and he still performs it in his live performances. I would imagine Mr. Hornsby wouldn’t have a problem with anyone covering his songs, and that song being one of them.

I had a video on RU-vid many years ago of a mama, baby and papa bear on Ozzard Mtn, BC; Warner turned off the audio because, in the background, my truck stereo was playing Surfin' Bird and other oldies. Sabotage.