Meat Loaf has told reporters that he never really had a dispute with his former collaborator Jim Steinman, rather that his issues were with Steinman's manager.
As previously reported, Meat Loaf began legal proceedings against Steinman back in June over ownership of the 'Bat Out Of Hell' trademark. Meat Loaf is about to release a third installment of the legendary album, one that was made without Steinman's involvement - Steinman was involved in both the first two 'Bat Out Of Hell' albums and, indeed, was the album's original creator. As the original creator of the album, Steinman successfully registered the 'Bat Out Of Hell' trademark in the nineties, but in June Meat Loaf claimed that he should rightfully own the name - presumably because his people feared Steinman's people wouldn't give permission for them to use the name on the new album. Despite an initial angry response from Steinman, the dispute was resolved last month.
Speaking this week, Meat Loaf says that the issues between him and his former collaborator come about because of a mutual loathing of each other's managers. The Associated Press quote him thus: "It's about managers. I think Jim Steinman's manager is the devil. Jim Steinman thinks my manager is the devil, so we had to communicate through managers. [We sued] because his manager refused to sign some papers we needed. I didn't really sue Jim Steinman. I sued the manager. You just had to name him [Steinman]. The lawsuit was over in three weeks".
The singer also said that he decided not to work with Steinman on 'Bat Out Of Hell 3' simply because the producer had been ill, and he hadn't the patience to wait for him to be fit enough to get involved: "If you look at my life as a gas tank on an automobile, I got a quarter of a tank left. I made a selfish decision that said, 'No, I can't wait because I'm running on a quarter of a tank.'"
He added that he would be working with Steinman on a new project in the near future, though that won't be a fourth edition of 'Bat Out Of Hell'.