Caesars sued by union over bootleg recordings

Thursday, Sept. 27, 2001 | 11:12 a.m.

A Las Vegas chapter of the Musicians' Union sued Park Place Entertainment Corp. and several California music recording companies, alleging they infringed its copyright when they allegedly made and sold recordings of more than 25 years of performances at Park Place's Caesars Palace resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

Local 369 of the Musicians' Union, an affiliate of the American Federation of Musicians AFL-CIO/Canadian Labor Council, and three of its members, sued Park Place, Concord Inc. and its subsidiary Neon Tonic Records, Act III Communications and Halcyon Entertainment in U.S. District Court.

The plaintiffs said they want to impound all recordings and equipment used by the defendants to make and sell their compact discs called "Live At Caesars Palace" that feature performances of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Andy Williams, Lena Horne and Duke Ellington.

The suit said the defendants had pressed and shipped more than 20,000 copies of the compact discs to Caesars Palace's distribution center and began to sell these in August.

The defendants could not be reached for comment. Some of the music on the CDs is based on recordings recently discovered that were secretly made by a former Caesars sound engineer.