Wal-Mart Sued Over Evanescence Lyrics

[mrtonguetwista]

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which promotes itself as a seller of clean music, deceived customers by stocking compact discs by the rock group Evanescence that contain the f-word, a lawsuit claims.

The hit group's latest CD and DVD, ``Anywhere But Home,'' don't carry parental advisory labels alerting potential buyers to the obscenity. If they did, Wal-Mart wouldn't carry them, according to the retailer's policy.

But the lawsuit claims Wal-Mart knew about the explicit lyrics in the song, ``Thoughtless,'' because it censored the word in a free sample available on its Web site and in its stores.

The complaint, filed Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court, seeks an order requiring Wal-Mart to either censor or remove the music from its Maryland stores. It also seeks damages of up to $74,500 for each of the thousands of people who bought the music at Wal-Marts in Maryland.

``I don't want any other families to get this, expecting it to be clean. It needs to be removed from the shelves to prevent other children from hearing it,'' said plaintiff Trevin Skeens of Brownsville.

Skeens said he and his wife, Melanie, let their daughter buy the music for her 13th birthday and were shocked when they played it in their car while driving home.

Wal-Mart, of Bentonville, Ark., has no immediate plans to pull the CDs from its shelves, spokesman Guy Whitcomb told The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail. He said the company will investigate the allegations. No hearing dates have been set.

``While Wal-Mart sets high standards, it would not be possible to eliminate every image, word or topic that an individual might find objectionable,'' Whitcomb told the newspaper.

He told the Herald-Mail that the song sample online was censored by Walmart.com, a separate division of Wal-Mart.

Whitcomb didn't return telephone calls Friday from The Associated Press.

The lawsuit also names as defendants Wind-up Records LLC, the New York-based company that recorded the music and decided not to apply parental-advisory stickers; and distributor BMG Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, of New York.

Sony BMG declined to comment on the lawsuit. Wind-up didn't return calls from the AP.

The Skeens' lawyer, Jon D. Pels of Bethesda, said he aims to ``take this case national, even if that means going state by state.''

He dismissed Whitcomb's suggestion that Wal-Mart stores didn't know about the censored version of the song. ``They are a multimillion-dollar corporation and they certainly can communicate among their various entities,'' he said.

[eS El Duque]

Fuck Evanescence...I hate Evanescence. Just wanted all of you to know that

[i love men who take pictures with their booty's out]

man the hell..

trevin skeens..and whomever else involved..should get a visit from willie d and jus let him cuss em out 4 a yr..kuz this is dumb

why they jus didnt return the cd...

people r crazy

[Woodrow]

STOOPID.

This 13 year old hears worse things every day at school. Thinking back, the high point of my cursing was the 3rd or 4th grade.

Another thought. I've purchased DVD's from Wallmart with MULTIPLE instances of "fuck" on them. If this suit pays out $74,500 you can bet that I'm gonna start becoming easily offened and try a cash grab like these fucks. I guess they are marked "pg-13" or "R" however...

[i love men who take pictures with their booty's out]

STOOPID.

This 13 year old hears worse things every day at school. Thinking back, the high point of my cursing was the 3rd or 4th grade.

Another thought. I've purchased DVD's from Wallmart with MULTIPLE instances of "fuck" on them. If this suit pays out $74,500 you can bet that I'm gonna start becoming easily offened and try a cash grab like these fucks. I guess they are marked "pg-13" or "R" however...

lol ..with that bein said...about the ratings.. i bet money that cd had a parental advisory sticker on it

[GangstaBoogy]

wal-mart only sells edited versions of cds. but thats wack tho, that person should've just took the cd back & told the store the lyrics offended them - got their money back...problem solved. oh well tho

[BigBDrugStores]

wal-mart only sells edited versions of cds. but thats wack tho, that person should've just took the cd back & told the store the lyrics offended them - got their money back...problem solved. oh well tho

well if there is only one version of the cd than tuff shit you are going to get thet cd everywhere then

[white Boy]

Fuck Evanescence...I hate Evanescence. Just wanted all of you to know that

cosign

[The Big Bad Ass]

Yea, bought a greenday cd from them back in the day that dropped the f bomb a few times. I wish I got paid that much for it

[Trauma-san]

This happens on tons of albums.  Here's two examples I can rattle off the top of my head, both available at Wal-Mart

Pearl Jam - 10 - In Jeremy, he clearly says "Seemed a harmless little fuck"

Fiona Apple - When The Pawn... - In "Mistake", she clearly says "I'm Gonna Fuck It Up Again"

No stickers