I really hope this settles it and people can move on. I would not like to see any new Sabbath material with Ozzy - his voice has really gone to hell and he would probably not do the material any justice. And Martin has already said he would not work with Iommi as Sabbath. That leaves Hughes but that would be a bad route to go IMO. With Dio's death I think we should lay Sabbath to rest.

With that said - GIVE US the third boxset with the Martin-era and Gillian albums remastered with bonus tracks (of which there is a considerable amount of). Add the Cross Purposes live CD with a DVD. Make it a small run if you need to but get those albums out again. This era of Sabbath has some fantastic underrated majestic heavy metal tunes - it needs to be heard again.

Ozzy Osourne and Tony Iommi have issued the a joint statement regarding the lawsuit between them over the use of the Black Sabbath name. Here is their joint statment:
"Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi of the legendary heavy metal band Black Sabbath have amicably resolved their problems over the ownership of the Black Sabbath name and court proceedings in New York have been discontinued. Both parties are glad to put this behind them and to cooperate together for the future and would like it to be known that the issue was never personal, it was always business."
The original Sabbath lineup of Ozzy, Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward has not toured together since the summer of 2005, and last convened for their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in early 2006.
In a recent interview with Sunday Mercury, Iommi said that he didn't rule out another reunion with Osbourne. Following the death of singer Ronnie James Dio in May, with whom Iommi had been working recently in the Sabbath offshoot Heaven & Hell, Iommi told Sunday Mercury, "I spoke to Ozzy while I was in Los Angeles after Ronnie's funeral . . . Ozzy and I have a complicated relationship but we've always kept in touch, no matter what else might have been going on. Would I play with Ozzy again? Who knows? It's weird with me and Ozzy."
Iommi added, "There can be all sorts of smurf poo going on but when we talk, it's like nothing bad has ever happened."
The Pulse of Radio asked Ozzy if there was once again a chance for the original Sabbath lineup to get together again. "Well, I never say never," he said. "I mean, I've got a few ideas, but we'll see what happens, you know. We did try and do another album, but we've all changed so much and it's — if you don't do an album that blows the doors off the last one that we did together, then it's gonna be looked upon as a joke, you know."
The band did try to record a new album 11 years ago, their first since 1978, but abandoned the attempt after just a couple of songs.
Ozzy released a new solo album, called "Scream," on June 22nd and will headline Ozzfest later this summer.
Osbourne filed a lawsuit against Iommi in May 2009, claiming that Iommi illegally took sole ownership of the band's name in a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Osbourne sued Iommi for a 50 percent interest in the "Black Sabbath" trademark, along with a portion of Iommi's profits from use of the name.
The Manhattan federal court suit also charged that Osbourne's "signature lead vocals" are largely responsible for the band's "extraordinary success," noting that its popularity plummeted during his absence from 1980 through 1996.
Lawyer Andrew DeVore argued that Osbourne signed away all his rights to the Black Sabbath trademark after he quit the band in 1979.
Osbourne's lawyer, Howard Shire, called that agreement a "red herring" that was "repudiated" when the singer rejoined in 1997 and took over "quality control" of the band's merchandise, tours and recordings.

Greed Greed Greed

Nice to see things have worked out for both parties. Or at the very least, both parties came to their senses.

There was no reason for Iommi to compromise or negotiate anything but with the sad passing of Dio, it was inevitable Sharon and Tommy would come to an "agreement" over the rights of Black Sabbath.

Even if the Osbournes did not sue, I still do not believe Iommi would have resurrected the name Black Sabbath anyway unless it included Ozzy, when they reunited the Dio line up they (Dio, Iommi, and Butler) agreed to the name Heaven and Hell because they did not want fans to be confused they were seeing the original line up that had been doing summer tours almost ten years at this point.

Ozzy took over quality control of the merchandise, tours and recordings? Can someone explain that?

Probably very true.

H&H's going nowhere. The tribute concert and then that's it. Vinny's out of a job. Sabbath marches on.

I don't care about Ozzy in Sabbath what I would like is for them to remaster the non Ozzy and Dio albums, but if Ozzy (SHARON) has a say in Sabbath quality control then all Sharon (ozzy) will care about is what it in it for her, and those album being reissued will do little for her. I think she just wants to tie up the Sabbath name so it can only be used with Ozzy in the band, but what about Martin he did 5 studio albums, two more than Dio, 3 less than Ozzy with Sabbath what if Iommi wanted him back I guess they have to call the band Headless Cross, I think it is stupid Iommi has been in Sabbath non stop it is his band

I think the decision for the name Black Sabbath to be used only with Ozzy was an argument Iommi made prior to the lawsuit, by all rights the Dio lead line up could have rightfully called itself Black Sabbath but he choose not to due to the fact that the original Black Sabbath were still touring.

Iommi has nothing negative to say about Tony Martin but it is doubtful these two will work together again, at least not under the Black Sabbath banner.

I think it is best to just the the Black Sabbath name rest and let Iommi go out and do his own thing.

Well according to the original 4 Sabbath guys, Black Sabbath is THEM 4! Sure there were other musicians and singers throughout time, but to them, Sabbath is the original 4. I somewhat agree with that, but its such a complicated thing.

Now if the original 4 don't record soon, then I will say its over forever. The guys are getting older and Ozzy's voice won't be able to hold up much longer.

Here's a interesting interview with Bill Ward:

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=143288

Quote:

Sonic Excess: BLACK SABBATH wrote new material, but nothing came of it. Will those recordings ever see the light of day, and if not, can you tell us SABBATH-heads what SABBATH album it's comparable to? Ward: Well, it is true that there is a lot of material written and stored away in a very safe place. I don't know what SABBATH album it would be comparable to. We did all these jams in the spring, I think it was seven years ago. The songs have some brilliant riffs, obviously from Tony [Iommi, guitar], and my drumming has changed a little bit. My approach and Geezer's [Butler, bass] approach was a bit different in supporting Tony, I thought. Oz [Ozzy Osbourne, vocals] was cutting across with some really nice things as well. I think it was more mature, because we are more mature, even though we are kids at heart. I don't think I can compare it to any SABBATH album, but it sounded really, really, strong. Sonic Excess: Why was it never released? Ward: Politics. (laughs) Sonic Excess: Well, I don't want to pry to much then, but do you think the songs will ever see the light of day? Ward: I think the songs that we have, and there were quite a lot of them, they ought to [be released]. They deserve to see the light of day, but whether they will or not, I don't know. It would be very sad not to let them see the light of day, because there are some really good foundations and grooves, some real nice chops. It was our band playing. To me, in my opinion, they're perfectly great enough to make another BLACK SABBATH album. The music is very current. It's us, 40 years later slamming it out, ya know?

I had no idea they had finished so many songs...