Appeals Court Agrees That Lawsuit Against KID ROCK Should Be Dismissed
January 11, 2005The Associated Press is reporting that a federal appeals court agreed Tuesday that trademark and copyright infringement claims brought against singer KID ROCK should be dismissed.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld a lower court ruling that KID ROCK's former business associates waited too long to file suit.
The Detroit rap-rocker, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, first sued Alvin Williams and Earl Blunt of EB-Bran Productions Inc. in May 2001. He said a 1989 contract that gave EB-Bran sole ownership of the Top Dog trademark and established a partnership with KID ROCK was a fraud. Williams and Blunt countersued.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds dismissed the countersuit in February 2003, saying that even if EB-Bran did acquire ownership of the trademark in 1989, the company abandoned its interest by not using the trademark for at least a decade.
The appeals court agreed, noting that KID ROCK wrote a letter to Williams and Blunt in December 1990 flatly stating that he did not intend to work with them on his songs.
"The plaintiffs have simply waited too long to bring their action," the court wrote.
The statute of limitations on federal copyright infringement lawsuits is three years.
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