Bruce was legally contracted to a Samson publishers deal at the time
@BludBrutha here's your answer... However, before saying that "it doesn't make sense" you should consider the entire situation in which Maiden were.
In 1981, Maiden was still an upcoming band and even though Paul had been in the band for three years and was identified as the voice of Maiden, they were still on the rise. In 1993, Bruce had been in the band for 12 years, had made Maiden a global act, the world of Metal rock was changing, and the band is a cemented act... They had to make changes
Personally I don't find it a stretch to think that the band/management could operate differently in 1982 and 1995.
What I find interesting is Steve/Rods mindset.
Did they reach out and have chats and give out golden discs in order to try prevent further legal cases (after Wilcock)? Or did the Wilcock case make them think that maybe there's some guys whose contributions they had forgotten about and they wanted to acknowledge them just for sheer fun and goodness?
I have interviewed a lot of people for my books, some of them are very close friends to Steve and everyone says he is an honest person, who listens to everyone and makes his own opinions. I know for a fact that even before the Wilcock case, if an ex band member complained or made certain "demands" about how things, he would talk to them to see what could be done...
In the 70's every member and ex-member of Maiden was focused on doing their own thing, and make a name for themselves in the music industry, they weren't thinking about making money from their contributions (they couldn't foresee the future). For example, Wilcock left Maiden in good terms, giving his mask and epee to Vic Vella after his last concert with Maiden, formed V1 and afterwards, because of bad advice, sold Steve the Green Goddess and his entire gear. Bob Sawyer, in 1981, was asked if he felt "robbed" by Maiden because they paid him 300 pounds for 'Sanctuary' and he said he didn't. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that the ex-members didn't come asking for money or to be recognised at first (the only early exception was Barry Purkins), it happened very late (late 90's) and when they talked about it, Harris did make efforts to try and compensate them in different ways (to my understanding, not with money) and most of them seem happy about that. So, the acknowledgement came even before the Wilcock thing. As a matter of fact, I do know that if Dennis had handled things differently, he would have gotten something much better than what he got.
