Bruce takes name off bar tab

Here's a funny story - that's not funny-ha-ha, it's more funny-is-that-a-dead-raccoon-because-something-sure-is-stinking.

Yesterday, ASCAP, Bruce Springsteen and Clinton Ballard, Jr. filed a lawsuit against a bar in New York after a band played three Bruce songs without a licence.

Today, it turns out, Springsteen's name was put on the lawsuit with neither his approval nor knowledge:

"In regards to the ASCAP lawsuit against Connolly's Pub and Restaurant, ASCAP was solely responsible for naming Bruce Springsteen as a plaintiff in the lawsuit," Springsteen's representatives said in a statement on Thursday. "Bruce Springsteen had no knowledge of this lawsuit, was not asked if he would participate as a named plaintiff and would not have agreed to do so if he had been asked. Upon learning of this lawsuit this morning, Bruce Springsteen's representatives demanded the immediate removal of his name from the lawsuit."

I'm no moral relativist - oh, alright, I am - but isn't 'playing a couple of songs without the paperwork' less of an evil than 'stealing someone's name to bolster a lawsuit against someone who played a couple of songs without paperwork'?

Isn't this stealing Springsteen's identity? Isn't that worse than borrowing a couple of songs which didn't cost him anything?