The Eagles Sue Hotel California
The Eagles have filed a lawsuit against the owners of a Mexico hotel for using the name Hotel California without their permission, according to Reuters. They allege that the 11-room hotel in Baja California Sur “actively encourage[s]” guests to believe that the hotel was the inspiration for the Eagles’ ’70s hit song and album of the same name by selling t-shirts and other merchandise and playing Eagles songs over the hotel’s loudspeakers.
Apparently the hotel, also known as Todos Santos, was originally named Hotel California when it opened back in 1950, but went through some name changes before being bought by a Canadian couple, who began to use the original name to milk the affiliation.
“Defendants lead U.S. consumers to believe that the Todos Santos Hotel is associated with the Eagles and, among other things, served as the inspiration for the lyrics in ‘Hotel California,’ which is false,” reads the complaint, which was filed Monday in Los Angeles federal court.
The Eagles’ Don Henley is notoriously litigious.