Legal Trouble
In 1985, Los Angeles prosecutors charged Biafra with "distributing harmful matter to minors" for artwork contained in the Dead Kennedys album Frankenchrist. The artwork was a poster reproduction of the painting "Work 219: Landscape XX", also known as "Penis Landscape" by Swiss painter H.R. Giger. The case ended in a hung jury; charges were not re-filed. A detailed account of the trial is presented by Biafra on his second spoken word album, High Priest of Harmful Matter − Tales from the Trial.
In early 2000, the label and Biafra were named in a lawsuit brought by his former Dead Kennedys bandmates. The suit claimed that Biafra had failed to pay the band royalties on Dead Kennedys albums. The end result of the case saw the rights to the albums turned over to the other band members, who licensed them to Manifesto Records in the United States (and to other labels in the rest of the world). The taking away of the Dead Kennedys album meant that the label struggled to get back on its feet, since the biggest sales it had were Dead Kennedys albums.
In October 2002, the label moved to Emeryville, California.
Read more about this topic: Alternative Tentacles
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