Got You On My Mind": questions answered

 Hah, You've got a lot of fight in you Doug. But believe me. I've been through all you speak of and more and still speak as I speak.These are the rules that ultimately work. Strangely enough the money and other things often follow. but if we don't get our heads right, there is no victory.

 Thank you William.No teamwork here. just synchronicity.Think for a ,moment though. Would you as David slay Goliath with Madi riding on his shoulder? Would Madi slay you wantonly? That is the problem of war.( And court is often like war)  Everyone gets slain.You just wrote a good, thoughtful, protest song about war.Don't be another proof of why it goes on. I don't say this in an empty pointless way. I believe there is somehow a way out of this that will save you both pain and later remorse.If you are going to try this here. Be willing to consider advice from those of us who love music and art and put the value of it way above money and power and things. You both need to look into your hearts. Let the buck stop here.Isn't that, after all, what you are both about? Making some sense for a world that so sorely needs it? Geoff

Dear Goeff,

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. If the parties in this dispute
were all men and women of good good will, with an honest
difference of opinion, then your suggestion would be right on.

Unfortunately, I am out lawyered, out publicized, and out
funded by about a million to one. So like David, who slew
Goliath with a slingshot, i am using the tools at hand to defend
myself and the rights of other musicians and indie labels.

One of the tools at hand is this forum.

By the way, I had no idea that you all were struggling to make
sense out of my life. Let me know if you make any headway.
(wink!)

And thanks for acknowledging Madi's appreciation of me- its
nice to hear.

Best,


William

Dear William, I have read your long letter with interest.I do not favor censorship.But I do give my personal opinion, which agrees with 'Cornishjazz' that this forum is a poor place to conduct , in effect, a courtroom scene.I always liked the bible quote that things should be done 'decently and in order' meaning that there is a place and time for everything but things do not mix well, helter-skelter. I know you are struggling, as we all are, to make sense out of your life. Things do not always tie up in neat packages, as all this is proving.I hope the actual courtroom scene, if there is one, can come at a truth as effective as Solomon's when he discovered thr true mother of the baby.Sometimes the truth is just that simple to come by.I would certainly wish , for both of you,that this could be settled quickly and fairly, by both your standards.I think very highly of Madeleine and I know you must be a special person, or she would not have cared for you as deeply as she has . Geoff

Dear Geoff and Doug,

Well, that resolved nicely.

I admire both of your ability to revise your opinions in light of
new information.

I must say Geoff, that it is surprising to see such an open-
minded person endorsing censorship. Without new information,
we can’t revise our opinions.

It makes me wonder if you have followed the progess of this
debate since its beginning.

When Rich Hansen put up Madeleine’s website in 2003, it
listed many of the dozens of gigs she played with me, reviews
and photos of these concerts, and reviews of “Got You On My
Mind’. It even offered GYOMM for sale. After Rounder took over
the site there followed a long period where any mention of the
album “Got You On My Mind” or the name “William Galison”
were strictly forbidden on this site. This ban started well before
any legal action was taken in my part, but after Madeleine's
lawyer and Rounder had threatened to sue me and my
business colleagues on false accusations of copyright
infringement. (accusations they later admitted were false).

The problem with denying the existence of me or GYOMM, was
that many of the thousands of fans who were enjoying the
album were baffled, frustrated and insulted that they could not
discuss GYOMM, or the shows I played with Maderleine .

As I understand it, it was Madeleine’s fans who convinced
whoever was in charge of the site (?) that censoring any
mention of GYOMM and WG would be perceived at best as
meanspirited and hypocritical and at worst as implicative of
foulplay.

All of my postings have been in direct response to questions by
Madeleine's fans. except my last postings which were in
response to postings by "smooth". “smooth”, who has a direct
personal interest in this subject, expressed her opinion that
GYOMM and the efforts to destroy it were not worthy subjects
for the forum, and i expressed mine. No one was the worse off
for that spirited exchange. More generally, if you think that
postings not directly complimentary of Madeleine’s music or
behavior should be censored, certainly you would want Doug’s
postings forbidden. That would be a big loss, because Madi
can learn from his comments.

Geoff, your comparison of recent postings to “sharks closing in
for the kill” is inappropriate on several counts. For one thing,
the fans that wrote them don’t have anything to do with each
other, as far as I know. More importantly, I don’t think anyone
here is bearing personal malice towards Madeleine.

For my part, my lawsuit is primarily directed at Rounder
Records and Jeffery Greenberg. Together, these two drafted a
contract that misrepresented the ownership of GYOMM and
made Madeleine responsible for any financial damages to
Rounder caused by this misrepresentation- which are
substantial.

Even Greenberg, Madeleine and Rounder admit that
SOMEBODY falsely told Rounder that Madeleine was the sole
owner of GYOMM. The question is: did Madi lie to a naive
Greenberg? Did Greenberg encourage Madeleine to lie to
Rounder? Or did Rounder, Greenberg and Madeleine’s
manager Cynthia Herbst come up with a plan to crush GYOMM
and and make Madi the fall guy if they got caught?

Likewise, in the libel case, Greenberg unquestionably
published outrageously false and damaging statements about
me. The question there is; did Madeleine give Greenberg false
information, or did Greenberg encourage Madi to lie in order to
intimidate me into surrendering GYOMM and to get her out of
her agreement to tour GYOMM with me?

This wi