Talk:William Galison

Open letter to Madeleine Peyroux

This article relies heavily - some may say too heavily - on William Galison's 'Open letter to Madeleine Peyroux' which can be found here: http://web.mac.com/wgalison/MADELEINE_LETTER/Letter_to_Madi.html

While I acknowledge that over-reliance on a single source is unsatisfactory, this information isn't available elsewhere in such detail. Whether this matter should be covered at such length is a matter of opinion and perhaps a brief outline of the case with a link to the 'Open letter' page would be enough.

Also, an article on the 'Got You On My Mind' album already exists and perhaps a large portion of this article should be transferred to that one.

I'm not sure of the legality of the claims made by Galison, but what he says appears to be true. Certainly, the depositions of Madeleine Peyroux which he has made available on his YouTube page seem to confirm his account. Galison's YouTube page: http://uk.youtube.com/user/willgalison

I'd appreciate any thoughts / constructive edits / additional references. SteveRamone 19:24, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Do you ever wish you'd never started an article? It's a nightmare trying to figure out what happened when and who said what and maybe none of it really matters anyway. I freely admit that much of the article is sourced from Galison's website, with some altered words and rephrased sentences. SteveRamone 21:39, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Campaigner for Judicial Reform

As a result if his experience in the lawsuit against Madeliene Peyroux and her lawyer Jeff Greenberg, Galison has dedicated much of his time to campaigning against corruption in in the judiciary of New York State.

The two primary objects of Galison's reform efforts are the so-called "oversight agencies" that are mandated to enforce rules and laws regulating the behavior of judges and lawyers; the [New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct][1] and the various Departmental "grievance committees", respectively. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.232.26.159 (talk) 02:15, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

NEW SECTION....HELP!!!!

I am astonished and humbled by the care somebody put into researching the facts of my biography and especially the dismal topic of my dispute with Ms Peyroux and her Lawyers. It is a complicated tale, difficult to summarize, and you did an excellent job.

Whoever you are, thank you! and ......get a life! (ONLY KIDDING!!!!!)

It is unfortunate that in terms of real estate it appears that the conflict with Ms. Peyorux was the central and defining event of my life. It's not. One footnote to that story: I have been told by a mutual friend that Madeleine feels remorse for what happened and confesses that her lawyers "told her to say things that were not true". While I still hope to hear those words from Madeleine in person, I believe that she now realizes how she was manipulated and abused by the lawyers who wanted only to save their asses after being caught in their defrauding of Rounder Records.

I am proud of Madi's success and wish her happiness and serenity.

On a happier note, I would like to trumpet the success of my 2008 video "Takin it Back With Barack, Jack", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJW67YfLWgs , which obviously resulted in the election of the president, and my new BRAND NEW ALBUM "Line Open" which can be previewed at:http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/2871264

I have also released some very home made music videos on Youtube, all of which can be found there.

If my anonymous biographer would care to add any of this info to my Wiki page, I would be delighted, as I have no idea how to do it myself.

Soon for sale in stores and on-line.

Over and out!

wg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.232.59.217 (talk) 00:47, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

Will Galison Update

To my unofficial biographer(s) whoever ye may be....

I am astonished and humbled by the care somebody put into researching the facts of my biography and especially the dismal topic of my dispute with Ms. Peyroux and her Lawyers. It is a complicated tale, difficult to summarize, and you did an excellent job.

Whoever you are, thank you! and ......get a life! (ONLY KIDDING!!!!!)

It is unfortunate that in terms of real estate it appears that the conflict with Ms. Peyorux was the central and defining event of my life. It's not. One footnote to that story: I have been told by a mutual friend that Madeleine feels remorse for what happened and confesses that her lawyers "told her to say things that were not true". While I still hope to hear those words from Madeleine in person, I believe that she now realizes how she was manipulated and abused by the lawyers who wanted only to save their asses after being caught in their defrauding of Rounder Records.

I am proud of Madi's success and wish her happiness and serenity.

On a happier note, I would like to trumpet the success of my 2008 video "Takin it Back With Barack, Jack", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJW67YfLWgs , which obviously resulted in the election of the president, and my new BRAND NEW ALBUM "Line Open" which can be previewed at:http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/2871264

I have also released some very home made music videos on Youtube, all of which can be found there.

If my anonymous biographer would care to add any of this info to my Wiki page, I would be delighted, as I have no idea how to do it myself.

Soon for sale in stores and on-line.

Over and out!

wg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.232.59.217 (talk) 00:51, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

Comments from article subject

In the Wikipedia article regarding me, there are statements that are untrue and libelous and there are important facts that are absent. The libelous statements are extremely detrimental to my professional livelihood and my personal well-being, and must be corrected immediately.

Most egregiously: The section "Got You On My Mind and Madeleine Peyroux" appears to have been written or edited specifically to misrepresent facts and to cast aspersions on my character.

"In 2002, Galison met jazz singer and guitarist Madeleine Peyroux in a bar in Greenwich Village.[4] They started to play music together and eventually moved in together.[4]

By the end of the year Peyroux had moved out and the couple had broken up, but they continued playing together and recorded a seven-song CD called Got You on My Mind in February 2003.[4] Peyroux and Galison maintained an intermittent relationship, and Peyroux alleged that Galison became abusive at times; Galison denied the allegation.[4]

Peyroux's contract with Rounder Records prohibited her from selling the Got You on My Mind recording, and she stopped performing with Galison.[4] Galison continued to sell the recording and claimed that he was owed payment for canceled performances.[4] The two artists and Peyroux's record label commenced an extended series of lawsuits and court cases.[4]"''Italic text

The first sentence is accurate. The statements "By the end of the year Peyroux had moved out and the couple had broken up, but they continued playing together and recorded a seven-song CD called Got You on My Mind in February 2003.[4] Peyroux and Galison maintained an intermittent relationship, and Peyroux alleged that Galison became abusive at times; Galison denied the allegation.[4]" are false and defamatory.

The album "Got You on My Mind" was recorded when Ms. Peyroux and I were still living and performing together, and on very good terms. In 2004 I learned from Rounder Records that Ms. Peyroux's lawyers had misrepresented the copyright ownership of the album to Rounder Records in a contract. In thecontract, Ms. Peyroux's lawyers told Rounder that she was the sole copyright owner of "Got You on My Mind", which was patently false. I challenged this claim that in NY Federal court and my ownership was legally established. Hence, I have been selling the album since it was released in 2005. Rounder was understandably upset with this misrepresentation in the contract. Their claim of Peyroux's exclusive ownership of the album having been denied by the court, and in jeopardy of being sued by Rounder for making a fraudulent contract, Peyroux's lawyers tried to prevent me from selling the album by other means. They wrote a letter to my lawyer- and copied to Rounder- that they had evidence of abuse by me towards Ms. Peyroux, and that if I tried to commercialize the album, they would press criminal charges against me. This statement was not only libelous but illegal, as it illegal for a lawyer to threaten someone with criminal charges (especially false ones) to gain advantage in a civil dispute. Peyroux's lawyers stated that the "evidence" came from Peyroux, but Ms. Peyroux has NEVER personally accused me of abuse of any kind to me or anyone else. It was her lawyer, Jeffrey Greenberg, who made that allegation in a cynical ploy to prevent me from selling the album that I owned. Greenberg also contacted numerous distributors and falsely told them that Peyroux was the sole owner of the album and that they should not distribute the album on my behalf. My lawyer recommended that for the sake of my professional and personal reputation, and to defend my business interest, that I sue for libel and tortious interference.

I filed a lawsuit against Peyroux and her lawyers for libel and for "Tortious Interference with Business Interests". In her deposition, which took several years to obtain, Ms. Peyroux stated under oath that she did not know the legal definition of "abuse", and that she had never told her lawyers or anyone else that I had abused her in any way. When asked what she did tell her lawyers about me, she claimed client/lawyer provide and refused to answer. All of the above is documented in court records which are publicly available. So the statement in Wikipedia that "Peyroux alleged that Galison became abusive at times" is false and defamatory, and must be removed immediately.

Suffice it to say, I have gone on to sell many thousands of copies of "Got You On My Mind", and I have never been charged with or accused of any form of abuse by either Ms. Peyroux or her lawyers.

Furthermore I never "claimed that [I] was owed payment for canceled performances". That statement is entirely false and unfounded.

Furthermore, there was not "an extended series of lawsuits and court cases". There were exactly two court cases; the first to establish my copyright ownership of the album in Federal Court

The story of my legal ordeal with Ms. Peyroux and her lawyers is interesting and worthy of inclusion in the Wikipedia profile, but the facts in your article are entirely inaccurate. I suspect that someone associated with Ms. Peyroux or her lawyers submitted the information on your page in order to skew the facts, protect the reputation of Ms. Peyroux and her lawyers and to defame me. I cannot imagine how much damage to my professional career and personal life this article has already engendered.

WHAT IS MISSING:

My musical legacy:

I have many other albums under my own name, and significant musical projects and collaborations, which are not mentioned in your article. Many of these can be found at my website: www.willgalison.net

My Social Justice advocacy and work as an investigative reporter:

I have spent much of the past 12 years advocating for justice for my friend Sunny Sheu, who was murdered by the NYPD in 2010. That effort is mentioned in this article from "Wikispooks" (https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Will_Galison) , and documented extensively at my blog www.sunnysheu.blogspot.com. My investigative reporting on this and other public corruption matters have been published in many prominent news venues, including Truthout, Business Insider, Naked Capitalism, Daily Koz and others. I have also been an advocate against Judical corruption and have testified on numerous occasions before the NY State Senate and the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption.

I hope some volunteer will take it upon themselves to mention these accomplishments in my Wikipedia profile.

Meanwhile, I insist that the false and libelous material regarding my relationship with Ms. Peyroux be corrected immediately. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.183.16.202 (talk • contribs)

The content in question is an accurate summary of the Boston magazine article. If you have a problem with the claims therein, you can take it up with them - we would take action here when they retract the article. - MrOllie (talk) 13:01, 26 April 2022 (UTC)

@MrOllie:, I'm thinking to remove the allegations of abuse. The allegations don't appear to have gone anywhere, legally speaking, and haven't received any coverage in 15 years or so. It's a bit of a borderline WP:BLPCRIME situation, as "abuse" can be either criminal or not. Thoughts? Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 18:45, 30 April 2022 (UTC)

I don't have any issue with that - people say lots of nasty things in the midst of a legal dispute. I think the imporant thing is that we cover the legal dispute itself in a neutral fashion. MrOllie (talk) 18:48, 30 April 2022 (UTC)

Possible sources for the article

For those trying to improve the article, here's a source that could be added: an interview with NPR:

https://www.npr.org/2004/01/18/1603560/william-galisons-harmonica-jazz

-- MelanieN (talk) 21:25, 30 April 2022 (UTC)

And here's a couple of reviews and stuff from Jazz Times:

https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/will-galison-line-open/

https://jazztimes.com/archives/madeleine-peyroux-and-william-galison-got-you-on-my-mind/

-- MelanieN (talk) 21:37, 30 April 2022 (UTC)