State Champ Radio Legal News
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An Earth, Wind & Fire tribute act will pay the legendary R&B group $750,000 in damages for using its trademarked name in ways that a federal judge called “deceptive and misleading.”
The payment, announced in a court filing Tuesday, will effectively end a year-long lawsuit in which the band alleged that the tribute act — “Earth, Wind & Fire Legacy Reunion” – infringed the trademark rights to the famous name by suggesting it was the real thing.
Earlier this year, the federal judge overseeing the case sided with Earth, Wind & Fire, ruling that the tribute act’s conduct had been “deceptive and misleading.” A trial had been scheduled to figure out how much Legacy Reunion would need to pay, but the two sides reached an undisclosed settlement on that question last week.
In Tuesday’s filing, the judge disclosed the total that Legacy Reunion had agreed to pay – $750,000, plus interest — a rare step following settlements, which are typically kept private. Neither side immediately returned requests for comment.
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Earth, Wind & Fire has continued to tour since founder Maurice White died in 2016, led by longtime members Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson and White’s brother, Verdine White. The band operates under a license from an entity called Earth Wind & Fire IP, a holding company controlled by Maurice White’s sons that formally owns the rights to the name.
Last year, that company filed the current lawsuit, accusing Legacy Reunion of trying to trick consumers into thinking it was the real Earth, Wind & Fire. Though it called itself a “Reunion,” the lawsuit said the tribute band contained only a few “side musicians” who had briefly played with Earth, Wind & Fire many years ago.
“Defendants did this to benefit from the commercial magnetism and immense goodwill the public has for plaintiff’s ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ marks and logos, thereby misleading consumers and selling more tickets at higher prices,” the group’s lawyers wrote at the time.
Tribute acts — groups that exclusively cover the music of a particular band — are legally allowed to operate, and they often adopt names that allude to the original. But they must make clear that they are only a tribute band, and they can get into legal hot water if they make it appear that they are affiliated with or endorsed by the original.
Ruling on the case last month, Judge Federico A. Moreno said the evidence pointed “overwhelmingly” in the band’s favor. In particular, the judge cited angry social media posts and emails from fans who attended the “Reunion” shows because they thought it was the original band — proof of the kind of “actual confusion” that’s crucial evidence in a trademark lawsuit.
“It is not a far cry to think that an average consumer looking for an Earth, Wind & Fire concert would believe that they could acquire that experience from either plaintiff or defendants,” the judge wrote.
Following Tuesday’s order, the only remaining issue in the case is an injuction permanently banning Legacy Reunion from infringing the name. That issue will be subject to future rulings clarifying exactly what it will cover.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been accused of sexual assault in a new lawsuit filed by a woman who claims the hip-hop mogul sexually assaulted her in a recording studio bathroom in 2003.
According to the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court in New York by attorneys Michelle Caiola and Jonathan Goldhirsch, Crystal McKinney claims she met Combs at a Men’s Fashion Week dinner in Manhattan on the invite of a fashion designer she knew. While attending the dinner, during which she alleges that Combs came onto her “in a sexually suggestive manner,” she says he invited her to hang out at his recording studio.
After arriving at the studio, where McKinney says several other men were present, she claims she was given alcohol and a marijuana joint that she later came to believe was laced “with a narcotic or other intoxicating substance.” She says Combs then led her to a bathroom, where he began kissing her without her consent before shoving her head in his crotch and forcing her to perform oral sex over her protests.
McKinney, who was then working as a professional model, claims that she later “awakened in shock” to find herself in a taxi heading back to the apartment of the designer who had invited her to the dinner. At this point, she “realized that she had been sexually assaulted by Combs,” the complaint reads. The lawsuit adds that following the alleged assault, McKinney’s “modeling opportunities quickly began to dwindle and then evaporated entirely” after Combs allegedly “blackballed” her in the industry. After falling into “a tailspin of anxiety and depression,” she claims she attempted suicide in 2004 and later fell into drug and alcohol addiction to cope with the trauma of the alleged assault.
The new lawsuit was filed under the NYC Gender Motivated Violence Act, which created a two-year lookback window beginning in March 2023 that allows survivors of gender-motivated violence to sue their abusers for alleged incidents that occurred outside the statute of limitations.
Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are Combs’ label Bad Boy Records, its parent company Universal Music Group and Combs’ clothing company Sean John Clothing, all of which McKinney claims “enabled” the alleged assault by “actively maintaining and employing Combs in a position of power” despite the fact that they allegedly “knew or should have known that Combs posed a risk of sexual assault.”
McKinney is asking for damages for mental and emotional injury, distress, pain and suffering and injury to her reputation as well as punitive damages, among other relief.
Representatives for Combs, Bad Boy Entertainment, Sean John Clothing and Universal Music Group did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.
Tuesday’s complaint marks the sixth sexual misconduct lawsuit to have been filed against Combs over the past several months. The torrent of lawsuits was kicked off by a November 2023 complaint filed by his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who alleged repeated abuse by the mogul over the course of more than a decade.
Though Ventura’s lawsuit was settled just one day later, a 2016 security video published by CNN on Friday (May 17) showed Combs physically assaulting Ventura in a hotel hallway. Though Combs denied all of Ventura’s initial allegations, in the wake of the video’s release he issued an apology calling his behavior in the clip “inexcusable.” L.A. District Attorney George Gascón later released a statement saying that Combs could not be prosecuted over the assault due to the statute of limitations.
Combs has strongly denied all allegations of sexual assault made against him. On Dec. 6, he released a statement that read: “Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
In November, Combs stepped down as chairman of his digital media company Revolt before reportedly selling his stake in the company in March. Also in March, federal agents conducted raids of Combs’ L.A. and Miami homes “in connection” with a federal sex trafficking investigation, according to CNN.
Podcast and music streaming company LiveOne is being sued for allegedly “openly and illegally operating a commercial office, business event center, professional podcast interview studio, and music recording studio” out of a 6,000-square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills, according to a complaint filed May 10 by the property’s next-door neighbors.
Entertainment attorney Michael Kibler and his wife Ann Kibler allege LiveOne has been a “nuisance” since it moved to take over the lease for the house in 2022, leading to “noise at all hours of the day and night, increased foot and car traffic associated with commercial operations, and parking overflow, from the day-to-day commercial activity at the residence,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed by Kibler’s law partner John Fowler.
The house is located in the famed Beverly Hills Flats neighborhood, which has long struggled to balance the privacy and safety needs of its wealthy residents with the hustle and bustle of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills’ glitzy Golden Triangle corridor.
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According to the complaint, the Beverly Hills home now being used by LiveOne had been privately held and occupied by a long-time owner who passed away in 2021. The property, which includes, a pool, a swimming lap lane and a guest house, was then purchased by Siamak Khakshooy and Tanaz Koshki for $6.9 million in October 2021 and rented the following December to The Revels Group, which manages artists including rapper G-Eazy.
That’s when the problems for the Kibler family began, according to the lawsuit. The Revels Group used the space as its “creative compound,” the lawsuit reads, operating music studios on the property and promoting “all-night music industry events hosted by professional DJs” on a “nightclub-quality sound system in the backyard.” After receiving multiple complaints about the house, Beverly Hills’ Code Enforcement department launched an investigation in September 2022 and ordered the company to “permanently terminate all operations,” which led to The Revels Group not renewing its lease. After The Revels Group moved out in December 2022, LiveOne moved in around March 2023.
Since taking over the property, LiveOne “has operated its music and entertainment company by engaging in recording studio activities, hosting a pre-Grammy night party on February 3, 2024, and holding other music entertainment events,” the lawsuit reads.
The Kiblers have hired private investigators to surveil the house and issue lengthy reports identifying LiveOne staffers as they enter and exit the property, even running license plate checks on cars parked near the house to determine the identities of the drivers, according to the lawsuit. Besides the occasional late-night party, the Kibler’s biggest complaint is the “large quantities of trash overflowing from the City trash and recycling bins in the alley behind The LiveOne House.”
The Kiblers are suing LiveOne and the property’s owners for violating local zoning laws, charging both with public and private nuisance, as well as infliction of emotional distress. The Kiblers are asking a judge to order LiveOne to cease all business at the house and pay a $10,000 fine for each day it operates at the house.
Billboard reached out to LiveOne for comment but did not receive a response.
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Spotify faces a lawsuit over allegations that it “unlawfully” chose to reduce royalty payments to publishers and songwriters; Earth, Wind & Fire reaches a settlement over how much it’s owed in damages by an unauthorized tribute band; Elvis Presley’s granddaughter sues to protect Graceland from a “fraudulent” foreclosure; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Spotify Taken To Court Over Royalties
Weeks after Billboard estimated that Spotify would pay roughly $150 million less to songwriters and publishers over the next year, the streaming giant is facing a legal battle over the move.In a lawsuit filed last week, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) claimed Spotify had “unilaterally and unlawfully” chosen to cut its royalty payments nearly in half by “erroneously recharacterizing” the nature of its streaming services to secure a lower rate.“The financial consequences of Spotify’s failure to meet its statutory obligations are enormous for songwriters and music publishers,” the MLC wrote. “If unchecked, the impact on songwriters and music publishers of Spotify’s unlawful underreporting could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.”At issue in the lawsuit is Spotify’s recent addition of audiobooks to its premium subscription service. The streamer believes that because of the new offering, it’s now entitled to pay a discounted “bundled” royalty rate under federal law. But the MLC says Spotify’s interpretation is legally incorrect and represents a “clear breach” of its requirements under the law.This is the second lawsuit of the past six months for the MLC — an entity created by Congress in 2018 to collect royalties under the Music Modernization Act. After the MLC filed a similar case against Pandora in February, that streamer argued that the group was supposed to operate as a “neutral intermediary” and was “not authorized to play judge and jury” or pursue “legal frolics.”For the full breakdown of the new case against Spotify — including industry reactions and access to the full complaint filed in court — go read Kristin Robinson’s entire story here.
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Other top stories this week…
TRADEMARK TRIAL AVERTED – Earth, Wind & Fire reached a settlement with a tribute act that used the R&B group’s name without permission, avoiding a looming trial over how much the unauthorized group would have to pay in damages. The agreement came months after a federal judge ruled that the tribute act — “Earth, Wind & Fire Legacy Reunion” — had infringed the band’s trademarks.LIVE NATION CASE EXPLAINED – With an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation from the U.S. Department of Justice expected soon, Billboard‘s Dave Brooks dove deep — breaking down the particulars of the looming case, explaining how it might affect Live Nation and recounting recent federal efforts to crack down on anti-competitive practices at tech giants like Google and Apple.COURTHOUSE ROCK – Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking a “fraudulent” foreclosure sale of the late singer’s historic Memphis home Graceland. Keough’s lawyers say the sale foreclosure was triggered by phony claims that her late mother, Lisa Marie Presley, borrowed $3.8 million and used Elvis’ famed mansion as collateral.UMG DROPPED FROM DIDDY CASE – Universal Music Group (UMG) and CEO Lucian Grainge were dismissed from a lawsuit claiming they “aided and abetted” Sean “Diddy” Combs in his alleged sexual abuse — a move that came after the lawyer who filed the case admitted there had been “no legal basis for the claims.” The sudden reversal came as UMG’s lawyers argued that the accusations were so “offensively false” that they planned to take the unusual step of seeking legal penalties directly against the accuser’s lawyer.SAMPLE SETTLEMENT – Kanye West reached a settlement with the estate of Donna Summer to resolve a copyright lawsuit that accused him of “shamelessly” using her 1977 hit “I Feel Love” without permission in his song “Good (Don’t Die).” The case, filed in February, claimed that West “arrogantly and unilaterally” used her music even though he had been explicitly refused a license.NAME GAMES – Members of the 1980s new wave band The Plimsouls won a legal ruling against the group’s guitarist over the trademark rights to the band’s name. The case was the music industry’s latest battle over the names of classic rock groups, including Journey, Stone Temple Pilots, Jefferson Starship, the Rascals, the Ebonys, The Commodores and The Platters.
Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, the actress Riley Keough, has filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking a looming foreclosure sale of the late singer’s historic Memphis home Graceland, calling the proceedings “fraudulent.”
In a case filed in Tennessee court last week, Keough alleged that the foreclosure was triggered by phony demands from a company called Naussany Investments – an entity that allegedly claims her late mother, Lisa Marie Presley, borrowed $3.8 million and used the famed mansion as collateral.
The alleged loans are recorded in documents supplied by Naussany that feature Lisa Marie’s signature, but Keough’s lawyers say those records are “forgeries” and that she “did not in fact sign the documents.”
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“These documents are fraudulent,” Keough’s attorneys write in their May 15 complaint, obtained by Billboard. “Lisa Marie Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never gave a deed of trust to Naussany Investments.”
The foreclosure sale for Graceland had been scheduled for Thursday, but according to court records, Keough’s attorneys won a temporary restraining order last week blocking any sale until the judge can rule on the dispute. A court hearing is set for Wednesday on Keough’s efforts to secure a longer-term injunction blocking the sale.
Naussany (Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC) could not immediately be located for comment. An attorney for Keough declined to comment. News of the lawsuit was first reported Monday by the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
When Elvis died in 1977, his daughter Lisa Marie inherited his estate, including Graceland — a tourist mecca that pulls in millions of dollars a year in revenue. Until her death last year, she served as trustee of the Promenade Trust, an entity that controls the Memphis mansion. When she passed away, Keough assumed that same role and took control of the property.
According to the lawsuit, Naussany alleges it made the multi-million dollar loan to Lisa Marie in 2018 and recorded the transaction in Florida. But Keough’s lawyers say that Naussany is “a false entity created for the purpose of defrauding the Promenade Trust,” orchestrated by a man named Kurt Naussany who has sent “numerous emails seeking to collect the purported $3.8 million debt.”
Keough’s attorneys say the evidence “strongly indicates the documents are forgeries” – most notably, that the notary who allegedly signed off on the transaction has confirmed that she did not do so. “Indeed, she confirmed she has never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any document for her.”
Officials with the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division plan to sue Live Nation after they wrap up a two-and-a-half-year investigation into the company, according to two high-level sources with knowledge of the matter.
The lawsuit will take aim at Ticketmaster’s use of exclusive venue contracts for its ticketing services, the sources say. Last week, Live Nation officials met with attorneys from the Department of Justice to discuss the case, including DOJ Assistant Attorney Jonathan Kanter, but neither the DOJ nor Live Nation commented on the meeting’s details. There’s no clear timeline on when the DOJ plans to officially close its investigation or file suit, and the two sides could meet again to discuss the case. Both The Wall Street Journal and Politico have previously reported that the DOJ planned to sue Live Nation in published reports earlier this year.
Live Nation officials are continuing to cooperate with the investigation, company president Joe Berchtold indicated on a May 2 earnings call. Based on the issues the DOJ has raised with Live Nation, Berchtold said he believes the lawsuit is related to “specific business practices at Live Nation” and “not the legality of the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger.”
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That’s both good and bad for Live Nation officials. On the one hand, if the merger isn’t central to the government’s case, then ending the merger and splitting the company up probably isn’t on the table — at least according to Berchtold. Alternatively, if the government believes that the company’s use of exclusive ticketing contracts with venues is monopolistic, it could propose an even harsher penalty.
That’s because politicians like Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who chairs the anti-trust subcommittee in the Senate, have zeroed in on Ticketmaster’s 70-80% market share of the top 100 highest-grossing theaters, arenas and stadiums in North America. Klobuchar has repeatedly said she believes Ticketmaster uses exclusive contracts to lock up market share. In contrast, Ticketmaster attorneys and industry advocates have argued before that the exclusive nature of these contracts benefits venues because it simplifies the ticket-buying process for consumers and generates important revenue for venues that they would not earn without an exclusive agreement.
DOJ officials are also expected to argue that Live Nation has illegally abused its power in the concert business to drive up ticket prices over the last decade, in part through additional fees that can add as much as 30% to ticket prices.
But officials from Ticketmaster, which Live Nation controls, have long argued that artists set their ticket prices, not Ticketmaster, and that only a small percentage of the fees collected above face value go to the ticketing company, with the vast majority of those funds going to venues to help cover the costs of a concert.
The government also bears the burden of proving why its proposed remedies — like forcing Live Nation to sell its stake in Ticketmaster — would benefit consumers.
Simply being named in an antitrust lawsuit filed by Kanter has the potential to significantly damage Live Nation reputationally and financially. A detailed lawsuit against it could galvanize the company’s critics behind a narrative that alleges the concert conglomerate acts monopolistically and abuses its power, undoing the company’s efforts in recent years to improve its image and destigmatize its business model.
A lawsuit will also likely have a negative impact on the company’s share price and serve as a major distraction for Live Nation when it would otherwise be focused on strategic expansion following its most successful fiscal year ever, with revenue up 36% from the previous year and an impressive $1.8 billion in adjusted net income.
Instead, Live Nation may face the full weight of America’s top law enforcement agency, which this year has taken on companies like Apple and Google with market capitalizations that are each 100 times larger than Live Nation’s. While Kanter’s efforts against these companies have been applauded by powerful allies including Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who has vowed to “make antitrust sexy again,” Kanter’s efforts so far have been unsuccessful, with the DOJ losing the bulk of the major antitrust cases it has filed. In December 2022, a judge dismissed the DOJ’s efforts to block a merger between security firms Booze Allen Hamilton and Everwatch as well as mergers between UnitedHealth Group and Change Healthcare, U.S. Sugar Corp and Imperial Sugar, Meta and Within, and Microsoft and Activision.
Kanter also lost a major ruling in the DOJ’s antitrust case against Google earlier this year when a judge struck down a request to bar the tech giant from offering up evidence that activities the government had deemed anti-competitive also had positive qualities that improved the product and generated positive consumer feedback.
“If the government can tip the scales and prevent courts from considering pro-competitive effects, the government could win every case by default,” wrote Sean Heather, a senior vp at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a recent paper on the Google case.
The Google litigation, which deals with ongoing business practices at the company as opposed to a merger, could be a litmus test for a yet-to-be-filed Live Nation suit. In the Google case, the government alleges that the company controls 90% of the online search advertising market by paying out billions of dollars each year to companies like Apple and Samsung to be the default search engine on their computers and smartphones.
While Live Nation officials are confident they can prevail in the looming antitrust case, they will do so with far fewer resources than other companies hauled before the Justice Department in recent years. Live Nation’s market cap currently sits at $22 billion, whereas Google and Apple’s combined market cap is $6.7 trillion, making Live Nation one of the smallest companies in recent decades to be the subject of such a lawsuit.
Live Nation declined to comment for this story. The Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment.
Members of the 1980s new wave band The Plimsouls have won a legal ruling against the group’s guitarist over the trademark rights to the band’s name – the music industry’s latest battle over the names of classic rock groups.
In a decision issued last week, a federal trademark tribunal sided with Peter Case and two other members of the Plimsouls – best known for their 1983 hit “A Million Miles Away” from the movie Valley Girl – in their fight with guitarist Eddie Munez.
The band had accused Munez of effectively going rogue, including performing under “The Plimsouls” with new musicians and seeking to secure his own trademarks to the name. They claimed fans “unwittingly bought tickets” to the shows because they thought it was the real band.
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On Wednesday (May 18), the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board said it was “crystal clear” that the band collectively, and not Munez alone, owned the rights to “The Plimsouls” name – thanks in part to the fact that they were all continuing to receive royalties.
“[Munez] had and continues to have his cake (royalties from the band). But he cannot eat it too (exclusively own the band’s mark),” the board wrote. “The public associates the … THE PLIMSOULS with the group, not just its lead guitarist.”
The battle between the members of the Plimsouls is just the latest clash between bandmates over the legal rights to classic group names. Journey, Stone Temple Pilots and Jefferson Starship have all fought protracted litigation over their trademarks, as have members of the Rascals, the Ebonys, the Commodores and the Platters.
Such disputes often arise out of one question: Who truly constitutes the band? Is it the band members, or an LLC that owns the rights to the name? Is it the original lineup, or the one that produced the biggest hits? Does one key member and a bunch of replacements count? Fans, band members and lawyers will likely give you different answers.
In the case of the Plimsouls, the band argued that all four members had always been members of a partnership that equally split control of the band’s intellectual property, including the trademarks to the band’s name.
Munez argued back that the band had “abandoned” any such rights because his bandmates had failed to perform any live concerts under the name since 2007. But in its ruling last week, the trademark board rejected that argument.
“Petitioner has not abandoned its mark The Plimsouls because the band’s music has remained on sale … throughout the band’s 45-year existence,” the judge wrote. “The [trademark] has always identified their group, based on the group’s music, and live and filmed performances. This explains why consumers have complained to [the band] after mistaking [Munez]’s band for [The Plimsouls] and being disappointed as a result.”
Neither side immediately returned a request for comment on Wednesday.
Universal Music Group (UMG) and CEO Lucian Grainge have been dismissed from a lawsuit claiming they “aided and abetted” Sean “Diddy” Combs in his alleged sexual abuse — a move that came after the lawyer who filed the case admitted there had been “no legal basis for the claims.”
The sudden reversal came two months after attorneys for the music giant argued that the accusations were so “offensively false” that they planned to take the unusual step of seeking legal penalties directly against the accuser’s lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, over his decision to name them in the lawsuit.
In a sworn declaration filed in court Monday (May 13), Blackburn said that after reading UMG’s objections, he had “concluded that there is no legal basis for the claims and allegations that were made against the UMG defendants.” He asked that they be dismissed immediately and “with prejudice” — meaning he cannot refile them later.
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In his own court filing on Tuesday, UMG’s lead attorney, Donald Zakarin, agreed that the accusations against his clients should be dropped. But he once again sharply criticized Blackburn for bringing those claims in the first place.
“As we have repeatedly said from our very first communication with counsel for the plaintiff on March 4, 2024, there was no basis, not legal and not factual, for the claims and accusations that were alleged,” Zakarin wrote. “The UMG defendants should never have been named in any of these complaints and we should never have been required to make motions to dismiss the complaints in this action.”
When reached for comment by Billboard, Blackburn declined to answer specific questions about what had led him to drop the case: “I would strongly advise you not to reach out to me for any comment on any case that I have. I have no respect for you as a journalist. You are a mouth piece for [Combs’ attorney] Shawn Holley, and UMG. You should reach out to them for comment.”
Filed in late February, the lawsuit against Diddy claims that he sexually assaulted and harassed a producer named Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones while he was working as a producer on the rapper’s 2023 The Love Album. The lawsuit is one of several abuse cases filed against Combs over the past six months, in addition to an apparent federal criminal investigation. Combs has strongly denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
But the case filed by Jones went far beyond a simple sexual assault claim against Diddy. Naming Grainge, UMG and numerous others as defendants, the case alleged that they operated a sweeping conspiracy that violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — the federal RICO statute that’s more often used in criminal cases against mobsters and drug cartels. He also accused the various defendants of violating federal sex trafficking laws.
In a scathing response to those allegations in March, attorneys for UMG and Grainge said that those claims were “entirely invented by Mr. Blackburn.”
“The [complaint] hurls accusations of criminal racketeering and criminal sex trafficking against the UMG defendants, respected individuals and companies having utterly nothing to do with plaintiff’s claims,” Zakarin wrote at the time. “These accusations are recklessly false and, but for the fact that they are embodied in a complaint, would be libelous.”
In addition to seeking to have the claims dismissed, UMG’s lawyers also took aim directly at Blackburn. They accused him of filing “knowingly false allegations” and said they would ask the judge to punish him for doing so.
“A license to practice law is a privilege,” Zakarin wrote at the time. “Mr. Blackburn, plaintiff’s lawyer, has misused that license to self-promote, gratuitously, falsely and recklessly accusing the UMG defendants of criminal behavior.”
Earth, Wind & Fire has reached a settlement with a tribute act that used the R&B group’s name without permission, avoiding a looming trial over how much the unauthorized group would have to pay in damages.
The settlement, filed in court on Tuesday (May 14), came two months after a judge ruled that the tribute group had infringed Earth, Wind & Fire’s trademark rights by calling themselves “Earth, Wind & Fire Legacy Reunion” — a name the judge called “deceptive and misleading.”
Following that ruling, a trial had been scheduled for later this month over how much Legacy Reunion would be required to pay in damages. But in a joint filing this week, attorneys for both sides said those proceedings would no longer be necessary.
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“The parties have reached a settlement in principle related to the damages issues that remain to be tried before the court in the referenced action,” the lawyers wrote. “The parties are in the process of preparing documents that reflect their agreement on the damages issues and that should fully dispose of the damages issues that remained unresolved in this action.”
The terms of the agreement, including how much Legacy Reunion will pay to Earth Wind & Fire, were not disclosed in court filings. Neither side immediately returned requests for comment.
Earth, Wind & Fire has continued to tour since founder Maurice White died in 2016, led by longtime members Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson and White’s brother, Verdine White. The band operates under a license from an entity called Earth Wind & Fire IP, a holding company controlled by Maurice White’s sons that formally owns the rights to the name.
Last year, that company filed the current lawsuit, accusing Legacy Reunion of trying to trick consumers into thinking it was the real Earth, Wind & Fire. Though it called itself a “Reunion,” the lawsuit said the tribute band contained only a few “side musicians” who had briefly played with Earth, Wind & Fire many years ago.
“Defendants did this to benefit from the commercial magnetism and immense goodwill the public has for plaintiff’s ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ marks and logos, thereby misleading consumers and selling more tickets at higher prices,” the group’s lawyers wrote at the time.
Tribute acts — groups that exclusively cover the music of a particular band — are legally allowed to operate, and they often adopt names that allude to the original. But they must make clear that they are only a tribute band, and they can get into legal hot water if they make it appear that they are affiliated with or endorsed by the original.
Ruling on the case last month, Judge Federico A. Moreno said the evidence pointed “overwhelmingly” in the band’s favor. In particular, the judge cited angry social media posts and emails from fans who attended the “Reunion” shows because they thought it was the original band — proof of the kind of “actual confusion” that’s crucial evidence in a trademark lawsuit.
“It is not a far cry to think that an average consumer looking for an Earth, Wind & Fire concert would believe that they could acquire that experience from either plaintiff or defendants,” the judge wrote.
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: A deep dive into Young Thug’s trial in Atlanta as the gang case passes the two-year mark with no clear end in sight; a Supreme Court ruling in a copyright case filed against Warner Music over a Flo Rida song; Donald Glover beats a lawsuit claiming he stole his chart-topping “This Is America”; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Why Is Young Thug’s Trial Taking So Long?
It’s been two years since Young Thug was indicted on accusations of running a violent street gang that terrorized Atlanta. It’s been well over a year since jury selection started, and more than five months since the trial got underway in earnest. The proceedings are expected to last into 2025, with roughly 100 more states witnesses still to testify. And all the while, Young Thug has sat in jail.Pitting prosecutors from America’s rap capital against one of hip-hop’s most influential artists, the Young Thug case was always an extraordinary story – not least because it represented a flashpoint in a decades-long debate over the use of rap music in criminal trials. But as the case drags on for years, critics like Kevin Liles, the CEO of Warner Music Group’s 300 Entertainment, say the case has metastasized into something else.“From the absence of bond to the extraordinary weaponization of creative expression, this case has always been an outrage,” Liles tells Billboard. “Now as the longest trial in Georgia history and with no end in sight, it’s also become a farce.”For the full story, go read Jewel Wicker’s excellent deep dive into the Young Thug case – including how we got here, what experts think about the case, and what comes next.
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SCOTUS COPYRIGHT RULING – The U.S. Supreme Court sided with a Florida music producer in a legal battle against Warner Music over a song by the rapper Flo Rida, ruling that copyright owners can recover money reaching back decades into the past. The decision in the case, which music companies had called “exceptionally important,” could encourage more accusers to try their hand at litigation over years-old songs.THIS ISN’T INFRINGEMENT – A federal appeals court affirmed a ruling last year dismissing a lawsuit that accused Donald Glover of ripping off his chart-topping Childish Gambino hit “This Is America” from an earlier song. A rapper named Kidd Wes had claimed that Glover’s 2018 Grammy winner was “practically identical” to a 2016 track called “Made In America,” but a lower court ruled last March that the two tracks were “entirely different.”50 CENT DEFAMATION CASE – The rapper filed a libel lawsuit against his ex Daphne Joy over her accusations that he raped and physically abused her, calling them a “calculated attack” of false allegations designed to destroy his reputation. The rapper claimed that Joy made her statements as retaliation after the he moved to take custody of their son – a step he claims he took in the wake of a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs that accused Joy of being a “sex worker.”PORTNOW RAPE CASE DROPPED – An unnamed woman who filed a lawsuit accusing former Recording Academy boss Neil Portnow of rape abruptly moved to drop her case, citing a concern that her real name will be revealed. The move came amid a split with her own lawyers, who told the judge they would withdraw from the case due to “irreconcilable differences” with Portnow’s accuser.ASTROWORLD TRIAL UPDATE – Settlements have been reached in nine of the 10 wrongful death lawsuits filed against Travis Scott, Live Nation and others over the deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld music festival, lawyers revealed at a court hearing last week, including the case that had been set to go to trial this month. The settlements leave pending one wrongful death suit to be tried – the one filed by the family of 9-year-old Ezra Blount – as well as hundreds of lawsuits filed by people who were allegedly injured.DIDDY WANTS CASE TOSSED – Sean “Diddy” Combs asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that he and two co-defendants raped a 17-year-old girl in a New York recording studio in 2003 — one of several abuse cases the rapper is currently facing. Attorneys for Combs argued that it was a “false and hideous claim” that was filed too late under the law.BRIAN WILSON CONSERVATORSHIP – A Los Angeles judge ruled Beach Boys founder and music luminary Brian Wilson should be placed under a conservatorship to manage his personal and medical decisions because of what his doctor calls a “major neurocognitive disorder.” The ruling, which came on a petition filed by Wilson’s family, appointed two longtime Wilson representatives, publicist Jean Sievers and manager LeeAnn Hard, as his conservators.NBA YOUNGBOY DRUG CHARGES – A judge in Utah set a $100,000 bond for rapper NBA YoungBoy, who faces dozens of new charges involving allegations that he orchestrated a fraudulent prescription operation while he lived under house arrest as he awaited trial on separate federal gun charges.
