Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Business
BusinessEntertainment

Run–DMC’s Darryl McDaniels Files $50M Suit Against Walmart, Amazon for Trademark Infringement

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Darryl McDaniels (Benjamin Thomas/Flickr)

One of the founders of iconic rap group Run–DMC is suing Walmart, Amazon and other sellers over alleged trademark infringement. Darryl “DMC” McDaniels brought the suit against the sellers because the companies are trading items bearing the band’s logo and name without permission.

McDaniels is listed as the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York Thursday, Dec. 29, according to Reuters. As the owner of 2007-registerd Run-DMC Brand LLC, the artist is seeking a minimum of $50 million for the purported unauthorized sale of various merchandise.

McDaniels said defendants Amazon, Walmart and various other retailers associated with the companies — including Walmart-associated Jet.com — have misled customers into thinking T-shirts, glasses, hats and other items were approved by the group. Additionally, he said the alleged infringement on the “extremely valuable” brand means the companies are violating state unfair competition and federal trademark laws by selling the reputation of Run-DMC’s name.

By the defendants selling Run-DMC gear, the retailers have damaged the brand, which, according to the lawsuit, has generated more than $100 million in revenue since it was established in the ’80s, NBC News reported.

Defendants Walmart and Amazon, as well as Jet.com, have yet to publicly respond to the lawsuit.

Joseph “Reverend Run” Simmons, the late DJ Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell and McDaniels founded Run–DMC in Queens, New York, in 1981. According to their official website, the group’s third album, “Raising Hell,” released in 1986, went platinum one month after its release with 1 million copies sold. The record included such hits as “Walk This Way,” “My Adidas” and “It’s Tricky.” Since Mizell’s death in 2002, the remaining members have moved on to other ventures, including books, a ministry and a reality television series for DMC, and a solo music career and reality show for Reverend Run.

In 2009, Run-DMC was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the second hip-hop group to receive the honor, behind Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five two years earlier.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top