Coachella says , You bit my name, I want it back, and that's a fact, damn you shouldn't have did that

[get these nets]

Coachella sues Ghana’s Afrochella for trademark infringement​

8th October 2022

Coachella and its organisers Goldenvoice have filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Ghana-based festival Afrochella.
According to the suit, which was filed in a California federal court on October 5, Goldenvoice claim that Afrochella (via Pitchfork) is “intentionally trading on the goodwill of well-known Coachella and Chella festivals and trademarks by actively promoting music events in the United States and in Ghana using the confusingly similar mark Afrochella”

The suit continued: “Not simply content to imitate and attempt to trade on the goodwill of Coachella, Defendants even went so far as to apply in Ghana to register Coachella as their own trademarks.”


“Despite repeated requests from Plaintiffs, Defendants have refused to adopt their own distinctive event name, and as a result, instances of actual confusion have already appeared on social media.”
The lawsuit “seeks injunctive relief and damages for Defendants willful infringement in the United States and to protect the public here from confusion”

Back in 2017, former Afrochella boss Edward “Deezy” Elohim took to Twitter to call the festival a “Coachella themed event”.

According to their website, Afrochella “is a celebration of Africa’s diverse culture and the vibrant work of African creatives and entrepreneurs.”
Afrochella 2022 is scheduled to take place on December 28 and 29 at El Wak Stadium in Accra, Ghana.


Coachella is set to return in 2023, with its now-traditional two weekends set to take place between April 14-16 and April 21-23.

 

[get these nets]

Africans cheering me on like Coachella
Ghostface boomaye

 

[invalid]

Was gonna say they have no case until I read this..

“Not simply content to imitate and attempt to trade on the goodwill of Coachella, Defendants even went so far as to apply in Ghana to register Coachella as their own trademarks.”

Also with the popularity of Afrobeats, Coachella may want to capitalize off of it and they realize that Afrochella may be the means in which they can do so.

I'm not aware of any other "Chella" festivals and think the names are distinctive enough to where they wouldn't get a ruling in their favor but trying to register Coachella in Ghana is agregious and they should be awarded for it.

The organizers really screwed this up.

I hate to say it but this may be a case where a white organization can corner the market on one of the biggest Afrobeats festivals and the black organizers basically handed them the layup.

 

[invalid]

Reminds me of how the white record labels did Black Swan Records.

 

[Premeditated]

I always thought the name was lazy and corny

I hated the fact that they played off of afro and not come up with it's own african title

I don't like when black people do it period. create a product and title it off of the name of another company in the same line(mostly white ones too)

 

[humminbird]

I always thought the name was lazy and corny

I hated the fact that they played off of afro and not come up with it's own african title

I don't like when black people do it period. create a product and title it off of the name of another company in the same line

100% this

 

[sportscribe]

I hate to say it but this may be a case where a white organization can corner the market on one of the biggest Afrobeats festivals and the black organizers basically handed them the layup.

This is not going to happen.

Afro Nation is bigger than Afrochella as it is. One thing the afrobeat industry has done well is keeping it authentically African with limited foreign stakeholders. It's a highly cultural market where they will need good will with African organizers to penetrate.

This is definitely infringement though. Perhaps they can settle and pay some royalties to the Coachella organizers.

 

[get these nets]

Was gonna say they have no case until I read this..





Also with the popularity of Afrobeats, Coachella may want to capitalize off of it and they realize that Afrochella may be the means in which they can do so.

I'm not aware of any other "Chella" festivals and think the names are distinctive enough to where they wouldn't get a ruling in their favor but trying to register Coachella in Ghana is agregious and they should be awarded for it.

The organizers really screwed this up.

I hate to say it but this may be a case where a white organization can corner the market on one of the biggest Afrobeats festivals and the black organizers basically handed them the layup.

Yeah, they will be buried by their own tweets.
"this will be a Coachella type of event"

I understand how branding works, but have never been a fan of "this is the Black version/edition of something" as a name or selling point.

But agree that the organizer(s) of Afrochella were being shortsighted. Perhaps not anticipating how Afrobeats/related African music would explode in popularity.

With attention comes greater scrutiny. Happened during the rise of Hip hop, happening now.

 

[get these nets]

Reminds me of how the white record labels did Black Swan Records.

Excellent comparison.

 

[boriquaking]

Crazy, because Coachella itself is named after a place in California..


Definitely seems like a stretch to me, at the same time there are no other festivals with a similar name for a very good reason.

 

[Low End Derrick]

Inb4Afrostock
Inb4Afropalooza
Inb4Afrobury
Inb4Afro Loud

 

[bnew]

there were never affiliated?!

 

[Mega]

DJ Envy got sued for the same thing with his "Carchella"event.
He lost that case.

DJ Envy Permanently Banned From Using "Carchella"

DJ Envy agreed to a settlement that will prevent him from using the name "Carchella" after Coachella sued him for trademark infringement.

allhiphop.com

 

[Problematic Pat]

DC got that Moechella GoGo festival thing. Never heard about the organizers getting sued.

But biting cac names is corny as fukk.

 

[StretfordRed]

It’s only fair. At least Coachella is in California