According toRe-Tox.com, a judge has dismissed originalMISFITSsingerGlenn Danzig's lawsuit againstMISFITSbassistJerry Onlyon the grounds thatGlennfailed to present enough evidence to have a valid claim against his former bandmate.
Glenn- real nameGlenn Anzalone-filed his lawsuitin April in which he claimedJerry- real nameGerrard Caiafa- registered trademarks for everythingMISFITS-related in 2000 behindDanzig's back, misappropriating exclusive ownership over the marks for himself, including the band's iconic "Fiend Skull" logo. By doing so,DanzigclaimedJerryviolated a 1994 contract, in whichDanzig,Jerryand others agreed to share ownership of theMISFITStrademarks for merchandising purposes. After registering the trademarks,DanzigallegedJerrythen secretly entered into deals with various merchandisers and cutDanzigout of any potential profits in the process.
Onlysubsequently released a statement in which he describedDanzig's lawsuit as "a sour-grapes tantrum based on outrageous allegations, the majority of which are completely false, while others are ill-conceived and grossly misguided."Jerryadded that he was "under no obligation, legal, contractual or otherwise, to obtain consent, or approvals of any kind, from former memberGlenn Danzigin connection with their use of theMISFITSname or logos. ApparentlyDanzig's own product line doesn't sell as well as he might like, but the fact of the matter remains thatJerry OnlyandCyclopian Music'sMISFITSlicenses, business activity and merchandising endeavors are 100% lawful and consistent with their legal rights."
On August 6,Judge Gary Klausnerof the Central District of California tossedDanzig's lawsuit out of court, writing thatDanzigfailed to allege which terms of the 1994 agreementOnlyactually breached. In the ruling, the judge noted that merchandise provision of the 1994 agreement grants each co-owner "of the name and trademarks of theMISFITSand logo(s) and artwork (including all artwork used onMISFITSreleases forSlash,CarolineorPlan 9 Records) previously associated therewith. Each party shall retain exclusive ownership of any artwork created by that party and not previously utilized onMISFITSalbums, merchandise or advertising.' The provision also grants the 'non-exclusive right to conduct merchandising and to exploit other rights relating to the use and exploitation of the nameMISFITS.' The provision ends by stating that '[Only] andDanzigwill each retain 100% of what each earns from the exploitation of merchandising rights and neither [Only] nor [Danzig] has any obligation to account to the other for any revenues derived from the exploitation of merchandising or any other rights.'
"Deeming the allegations in the Complaint as true, the Court finds no alleged facts that constitute a breach of the merchandising provision. The Complaint expressly alleges that the designs at issue are co-owned by [Danzig] and [Only]. As to co-owned designs, the provision contemplates that [Only] has a non-exclusive right to merchandise products and otherwise exploit the designs. The provision also allows [Only] to retain 100% of earnings from such exploitation. The terms of the provision do not address any obligation regarding trademark registration or negotiations with individual retail merchandisers as to licensing. Moreover, in reviewing the other provisions contained in the 1994 Agreement, the Court also finds no other terms that govern the parties' conduct as it pertains to trademarking and licensing."
The originalMISFITSband broke up in 1983, and bassistJerry Onlybrought forth a new version of theMISFITSin 1995. Various members have come and gone, butOnly, along withBLACK FLAG'sDez Cadena, has kept some form of theMISFITSin the recording studio and on the road for most of the last two decades.
After the originalMISFITSdisbanded,Glenn Danzigwent on to formSAMHAINand then the eponymousDANZIG. Several albums of reissued and previously unreleased material were issued after the group's dissolution, and their music became influential to punk rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock music of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
