Vinnie "Wiz" Vincent, the former "Ankh Warrior" guitarist for the glam-metal rock band KISS in the mid-80's, has lost his Chapter 13 bankruptcy appeal. Former KISS members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and others had a judgment against Vincent and were trying to collect by selling his songwriting copyrights. His bankruptcy filing and subsequent appeal were an attempt to stop those sales.
Vincent, who has filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times in the past three years, had filed most recently in Tennessee. A bankruptcy judge in that district ruled that his filing was in bad faith. A three-judge panel from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed that ruling, which also bars Vincent from filing Chapter 13 again for two years.
Vincent, whose actual name is Vincent John Cusano, wrote such songs as "Lick It Up" and "Young and Wasted" for the band, and continues to own the rights to those songs.
In 2009, Vincent unsuccessfully sued other KISS band members for unpaid royalties and defamation in California. The court awarded the other band members $82,000 to pay their attorney fees in the case. The KISS showmen then proceeded to collect on that judgment, demanding that Vincent turn over those copyrights to pay it.
Background and Bad Faith
A former staff writer for the TV show "Happy Days," Vincent made a career change in 1982 when he was hired by KISS to replace guitarist Ace Frehley. As the lead guitarist for the band from 1982 to 1984, he played on the albums "Creatures of the Night" and "Lick It Up." He made $2,000 a week.
When Vincent was hired, all of the band's members took on personas that were reflected in their over-the-top costumes and full face paint. Vincent chose Egyptian-style face paint for his "Ankh Warrior" persona, then continued with the band as they entered their non-makeup period. He was later fired, reportedly for "unethical" behavior.
Vincent later formed a new glam-metal rock band called the "Vinnie Vincent Invasion," which released two albums in the late 80's. He currently lives in Nashville.
In his failed 2009 Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing, Vincent's lawyer argued that selling off the copyrights to his songs would leave Vincent "destitute, as the property sought to be sold constitutes the debtor's life's work."
Vincent later fired his bankruptcy attorney and proceeded pro se. In his appeal, he argued that any mistakes made in his bankruptcy filing were not due to bad faith but were the inadvertent errors of a plaintiff representing himself.
The Sixth Circuit panel shot that argument down.
"We cannot excuse a lack of good faith based on debtor's pro se status, particularly when the debtor was in fact represented by counsel or had retained counsel during the vast majority of his time in the bankruptcy court but failed to follow counsel's advice," it said in its ruling.
Related Resource:
"Former Kiss Guitarist Loses Bankruptcy Appeal" (Bankruptcy Beat, The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2010)
