Frank Zappa: Zappa Trust versus Zappanale

If you want to stage a festival honoring Frank Zappa - you might have to reckon with the Zappa Trust, headed up by Frank Zappa's widow, Gail.

The German music festival Zappanale, bills itself as "the biggest Zappa festival in the world." It takes place in the German town of Bad Doberan every year.

This week in a Düsseldorf court house Zappanale faced off against the Zappa Family Trust. The case is mainly about trademark rights/copyright of songs and products ... including the famous Zappa moustache.

Zappanale claims that Frank Zappa himself gave his consent to the festival in a meeting in Amsterdam in the 1990's. Wolfhard Kutz, the Zappanale treasurer, says its time for Gail Zappa to quit: "His widow should finally stop putting hurdles in our path and help us further promote this fantastic music."

Frank would probably agree. He was all about freedom of expression and was opposed to censorship. I'm not sure he would dig the way his legacy is being micromanaged.

For the whole story check out the Der Spiegel article here.

Tags: Zappa Trust, Gail Zappa, Zappanale, Wolfhard Kutz, Bad Doberan