Update (August 19): Bob Daisley, the co-writer of “Crazy Train” who is suing Ozzy Osbourne for back royalties, laughed off the Osbourne camp’s response to the suit. In an August 18 interview with the writer and musician Joel Gausten, Daisley says: “What they’ve said isn’t very accurate. Yes, I have had publishing money from the songwriting over the past 35 years. As far as what I’ve received being in the millions, no, it isn’t in the millions.
“I haven’t been getting all my sync fees, and Blizzard Music has been taking a higher percentage off the top than the contract I have with them allows them to take. When a publisher collects royalties and pays the writers, they take a percentage as their administrative payment for doing it – but here the Osbournes have been taking 25 percent rather than the 10 percent I agreed to.” Daisley added, “I wouldn’t care if I had $50 trillion – if somebody’s taking advantage of me, I want to put a stop to it. … I’m not harassing anybody. I have had to resort to legal action to get the money they owe me. And I look forward to all of the true facts coming out in the lawsuit.”
Ozzy Osbourne is being sued by the co-writer of “Crazy Train,” a song that first appeared on the Black Sabbath singer’s debut solo album, 1980’s Blizzard of Ozz. Daisley, the plaintiff in the suit, claims that he is owed $2 million in unpaid royalties for his part in writing the classic rock song, also credited to Osbourne and the late guitarist Randy Rhoads.
Daisley claims in the lawsuit that he discovered in a 2014 audit that he’d been short-changed. The suit, filed in a Nevada court Monday, August 8, alleges that Osbourne and his company “had been improperly deducting undisclosed fees before distributing royalties to Daisley and improperly withholding Daisley’s rightful share of royalties,” according to court documents obtained by the U.K. music periodical NME.
Daisley previously attempted to sue Osbourne over the same allegedly missing payments in Los Angeles in 2002. That suit was tossed out by the court.
Ozzy Osbourne and Blizzard Music Limited responded to Daisley’s new claim with the following statement:
“For the past 36 years Mr. Daisley has been receiving bi-annual royalty statements and checks from Blizzard Music, totaling in the millions of dollars, which have been routinely cashed. Mr. Daisley has audited Blizzard Music accounts over the years using several different auditing firms who found no discrepancies. He has previously filed lawsuits in the U.K. and the U.S. and has lost on each occasion.
“We understand that Mr. Daisley is now in retirement and that these funds are his main source of income, so it is his right to be diligent with his money, but after 36 years, this is tantamount to harassment. We would have hoped that after 36 years that Mr. Daisley would have lost his unhealthy personal obsession and resentment towards Mr. Osbourne’s success. Blizzard Music and Mr. Osbourne plan to vigorously defend these proceedings.”
