LL Cool J, who cut his teeth on genre-defining battle raps, has set his sights on the dormant Rock the Bells music festival with a trademark-infringement lawsuit filed on Tuesday.

In a complaint obtained by Rolling Stone, the rapper alleges that Guerilla Union, Inc., which produces the annual event (last held in 2013), used the phrase “Rock the Bells” – the title of LL’s 1985 hit – without his permission. He also claims that by using that name, music fans could be confused that he endorsed the festival or served as one of its producers and that by using Rock the Bells in a URL, the festival committed “cyberpiracy.” Using the name, he alleges, is an act of fraud and counts as “unfair competition,” for the rapper, who named his branded classic hip-hop channel on Sirius XM “Rock the Bells.”

The rapper is asking the court to stop the festival from using the phrase in any manner, including printing merchandise with the phrase on it, and alluding to any connection with LL Cool J (real name James Todd Smith). He also wants a judge to recognize his “Rock the Bells” trademark as valid and order the festival to deliver any unused merch with the name on it to the rapper so he can destroy it and transfer the rights to its URL and social media accounts to him.
Smith is asking that Guerilla Union deliver any and all profits from allegedly infringing on the trademark and three times the amount of compensatory damages and punitive damages, among other claims.

Reps for LL Cool J and Guerilla Union did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s requests for comment.
Smith released the funky “Rock the Bells” with its heavy metal guitar stabs courtesy of Rick Rubin on his 1985 album Radio; he was 17 at the time. When it was released as a single, it made it to Number 17 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The more famous version of the song features no bells at all, though there is plenty on the “original version” that came out on the song’s 12-inch release.

posted by David Miller (via rollingstone)

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