"Legal Battle Over Stolen 'Hotel California' Lyrics Begins in Manhattan"

A criminal trial has opened in New York involving roughly 100 pages of hand-drafted lyrics to "Hotel California" and other Eagles hits, with defendants accused of peddling the stolen documents and scheming to thwart Don Henley's efforts to reclaim them. The disputed pages include lyrics-in-development for tracks from the Eagles' 1976 album "Hotel California," and the case revolves around whether the defendants had the right to sell the lyrics pages obtained while researching a never-published biography of the band. Henley's manager testified that the lyrics are very personal to him and a part of musical history, while defense lawyers claim Henley voluntarily gave away the documents and leveraged prosecutors to try to take them back.