Eric Clapton wins legal case against woman selling bootleg CD on eBay

Eric Clapton has won a legal case against a German woman who attempted to sell a bootleg CD of his on eBay.

As reported by DW, the defendant claimed she was unaware that she was committing copyright infringement by listing the album – an unauthorised recording of a Clapton concert from the 1980s – on the site for €9.95 (£8.45).

Clapton sent Düsseldorf regional court an affidavit stating that the recordings on the disc were illegal, which led to to the court’s initial decision in favour of the singer-songwriter. However, the woman appealed.

The 55-year-old said that her late husband told her he had purchased the CD in 1987 at a well-known department store. Her appeal was rejected, with the judge ruling that it was irrelevant that she did not buy the album herself.

The court has now asked the woman to pay the legal fees of both parties, which is around €3,400 in total (£2,889). If she continues to offer the CD for sale, she faces a fine of €250,000 (£212,353) or six months in prison.

The defendant’s lawyer, Klaus Günther, told German newspaper Bild: “We will appeal again.”

Meanwhile, Eric Clapton has faced backlash over the course of the COVID pandemic due to his anti-vaccine views and criticisms of lockdown measures. Back in August, he shared the apparent anti-vax protest song ‘This Has Gotta Stop’.

“I can’t take this B.S. any longer/ It’s gone far enough/ You wanna claim my soul, you’ll have to come and break down this door,” Clapton sings on the track before touching on his “disastrous” reaction to the jab.