Woodstock Vs. Woodstock

06/01/09 2:57pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Nothing says "peace and love" like a lawsuit or cease and desist order.

The promoters of a free San Francisco concert that will celebrate Woodstock's 40th anniversary and Michael Lang of New York's Woodstock Ventures are arguing over who gets to use the name "Woodstock."

Boots Hughston, former San Francisco District Attorney Terrence Hallinan, Woodstock veterans Country Joe McDonald, Barry "The Fish" Melton and Lester Chambers of The Chambers Brothers are behind the San Francisco show.

Lang, who was to put on a New York-based 40th anniversary Woodstock show this summer in New York that never materialized, has issued a cease and desist order to Houston, Hallinan, and Country Joe McDonald to get them to stop using the "Woodstock" moniker.

According to a press release Hughston sent to media outlets, Lang has been working through a New York City law firm to demand payment from any event celebrating Woodstock's 40th anniversary or that uses the phrases "Peace & Music."

Ah, those hippie ideals...

McDonald, Melton, Hallinan and Hughston held a press conference last Wednesday to announce they would not comply with the cease and desist order. Why? Because they claim what's now San Francisco was once called Woodstock, and Hallinan unveiled an 1878 map of the city made by Governor H.H. Haight. Hughston and company also argue at least 18 artists that appeared at the original Woodstock festival held in Bethel, N.Y. in 1969 were from San Francisco and the city thus helped "birth" the festival.

It's not known whether Lang has responded to the claims.