Anthrax - Sued For $1 Million Over Hanukkah Sweater
Anthrax are being sued! According to a report from Detroit Free Press, the metal veterans are being sued by a Detroit artist over the use of his design on the band's Ugly Hanukkah sweater. In a unique copyright infringement lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, a Detroit artist and businessman is suing Anthrax and others for at least $1 million in damages, claiming his blue-and-white Happy Hanukkah design is showing up on Anthrax sweatshirts, which are being sold for $28.99 on a website called Rockabilia.
This comes at a time the band is preparing to release the new album For All Kings.
The website is being sued too, along with the merchandiser who supplied the corny crewnecks, which appeared in a 2015 Twitter post that is now being used as Exhibit 3 in the lawsuit. It shows a man in a long pointy beard sporting the Anthrax Happy Hanukkah sweatshirt, while making rocker hand gestures. Comments include: "Limited edition of only 300! Get em by Dec. 6" and "keep the Jewish metal spirit."
The plaintiff is designer Aaron Cummins, who claims he created the original design for the Ugly Hanukkah Sweater in 2012 and has exclusive copyrights to it, but that it's being ripped off by others to promote the famous band. According to his lawsuit, the sweater's design was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2013, and has been since marketed and sold through his Detroit company, Wet House.
But sometime last fall, around September, Cummins' Hanukkah sweater design started showing up on the Internet as an Anthrax sweatshirt, the lawsuit states. Even today, the lawsuit claims, the Anthrax-knockoff continues to be sold online at Rockabilia.com.
"This is the first I've heard that there's any issue with it," said Frankie Blydenburgh, a Minnesota-based buyer for Rockabilia.com, who learned about the lawsuit from the Free Press. "We got (the sweatshirt) in November. It's still on our site, but it's a limited edition."
According to Blydenburgh, Rockabilia bought the Anthrax Hanukkah sweatshirts from a company called Global Merchandising Services, which is also a defendant in the Detroit lawsuit.
"It's up to the merchandising companies we buy from to get the items cleared and make sure there's no (copyright) issues," Blydenburgh said, adding he would call the merchandiser who supplied the sweatshirts to inquire about any copyright issues.
In addition to financial damages, the lawsuit also seeks an injunction to "permanently" stop the defendants from manufacturing, selling or marketing any more products that display the plaintiff's copyrighted Hanukkah sweater design. The plaintiff also wants the defendants to surrender any products that bear the design, or were used to make the Anthrax sweatshirts, including rollers, plates and molds.
The defendants not only engaged in copyright infringement, the lawsuit states, but engaged in unfair competition and unfair trade practices that financially harmed Wet House.
This comes at a time the band is preparing to release the new album For All Kings.
The website is being sued too, along with the merchandiser who supplied the corny crewnecks, which appeared in a 2015 Twitter post that is now being used as Exhibit 3 in the lawsuit. It shows a man in a long pointy beard sporting the Anthrax Happy Hanukkah sweatshirt, while making rocker hand gestures. Comments include: "Limited edition of only 300! Get em by Dec. 6" and "keep the Jewish metal spirit."
The plaintiff is designer Aaron Cummins, who claims he created the original design for the Ugly Hanukkah Sweater in 2012 and has exclusive copyrights to it, but that it's being ripped off by others to promote the famous band. According to his lawsuit, the sweater's design was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2013, and has been since marketed and sold through his Detroit company, Wet House.
But sometime last fall, around September, Cummins' Hanukkah sweater design started showing up on the Internet as an Anthrax sweatshirt, the lawsuit states. Even today, the lawsuit claims, the Anthrax-knockoff continues to be sold online at Rockabilia.com.
"This is the first I've heard that there's any issue with it," said Frankie Blydenburgh, a Minnesota-based buyer for Rockabilia.com, who learned about the lawsuit from the Free Press. "We got (the sweatshirt) in November. It's still on our site, but it's a limited edition."
According to Blydenburgh, Rockabilia bought the Anthrax Hanukkah sweatshirts from a company called Global Merchandising Services, which is also a defendant in the Detroit lawsuit.
"It's up to the merchandising companies we buy from to get the items cleared and make sure there's no (copyright) issues," Blydenburgh said, adding he would call the merchandiser who supplied the sweatshirts to inquire about any copyright issues.
In addition to financial damages, the lawsuit also seeks an injunction to "permanently" stop the defendants from manufacturing, selling or marketing any more products that display the plaintiff's copyrighted Hanukkah sweater design. The plaintiff also wants the defendants to surrender any products that bear the design, or were used to make the Anthrax sweatshirts, including rollers, plates and molds.
The defendants not only engaged in copyright infringement, the lawsuit states, but engaged in unfair competition and unfair trade practices that financially harmed Wet House.
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Band profile: | Anthrax |
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