Eagles singer Don Henley sues for return of handwritten lyrics to “Hotel California.”

Eagles singer Don Henley filed a lawsuit in New York on Friday seeking the return of handwritten notes and lyrics from the band’s hit Hotel California album.

The civil lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan follows prosecutors in March unexpectedly dropping criminal charges during the trial against three collectibles experts accused of conspiring to sell the documents.

The Eagles co-founder maintained the pages were stolen and announced he would sue after criminal cases were dropped against rare book dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and rock memorabilia dealer Edward Kosinski.

Hotel Californiareleased by Eagles in 1977, it is the third best-selling album of all time in the US

“These 100 pages of personal text sheets belong to Mr. Henley and his family, and he never authorized the defendants or anyone else to sell them for profit,” Daniel Petrocelli, Henley’s attorney, said in an emailed statement Friday.

According to the lawsuit, the handwritten pages remain in the possession of the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who did not comment directly on the proceedings Friday.

Kosinski’s attorney, Shawn Crowley, said Henley continues to falsely accuse his client. He said criminal charges against Kosinski were dropped after it became clear Henley misled prosecutors by withholding key information proving Kosinski had bought the sites in good faith.

“Don Henley is desperate to rewrite history,” Crowley said in a statement. “We look forward to resolving this case and filing suit against Henley to hold him accountable for his repeated lies and misuse of the justice system.”

Attorneys for Inciardi and Horowitz did not immediately comment on the case, although Horowitz was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit because he does not claim ownership of the materials.

During the trial, lawyers for both men argued that Henley had given the lyrics pages decades ago to a writer who was working on an unpublished Eagles biography and then sold the handwritten sheets to Horowitz, who in turn sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski, who began auctioning off some of the pages in 2012.

The criminal case was abruptly dropped after prosecutors agreed that defense attorneys had been essentially blindsided by 6,000 pages of correspondence regarding Henley, his lawyers and associates.

Prosecutors and the defense said they only received the materials after Henley and his lawyers made a last-minute decision to waive attorney-client privilege that protects legal discussions.

Judge Curtis Farber, who presided over the non-jury trial that began in late February, said that witnesses and their lawyers used attorney-client privilege “to obfuscate and conceal information that they believed would be prejudicial” and that prosecutors “were apparently manipulated.”

Associated Press reporter Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.