Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
Hate to spoil the holiday mood, but we've learned some bad news about the current Exposé reunion... it seems that the ladies (Jeanette, Ann and Gioia - who is currently nominated for DIVA OF THE YEAR on the home page) have been hit by a lawsuit that is trying to keep them from using the name Exposé. Even though they're the ones who made their hit songs famous, it seems that copyright law might be against them. Here's the full story, courtesy of Daily Business Review:
Exposeé on a recent reunion tour stop.
Miami girl group Exposé ruled the charts in the 1980s, turning out a multiplatinum album and numerous hits, including the No. 1 single, “Seasons Change.”
But some things never change.
Turmoil with management roiled the group during its hey-day and rancor has returned now that the trio is on a popular reunion tour riding high on 1980s dance nostalgia. The singers have been sued to stop using the name Exposé after breaking with promoters in August just months before their trademark licensing agreement was set to expire.
Crystal Entertainment & Filmworks of Miami filed a lawsuit against the group Nov. 30 in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale alleging it owns the rights to the group’s name and that the members of Exposé violated their trademark licensing agreement. The group’s founder — prominent Miami Beach songwriter and producer Lewis A. Martinee — also has filed recent applications for the trademark for both the record digital music and the performances.
Jeanette Jurado, Ann Curless Weiss and Gioia Bruno hired a high-powered Los Angeles law firm to defend them. They assert that Crystal — which inherited the ownership rights to Exposé’s recorded music — does not have the right to the trademark in as it pertains to live performances.
Among its allegations, the lawsuit alleges trademark infringement, breach of contract and unfair competition. It also alleges “cybersquatting” for the group using the Exposé name on its Web site.
Crystal named former band member Kelly Moneymaker in the lawsuit, as well as the group’s booking agent, Paradise Artists of Los Angeles and its Las Vegas-based merchandise vendor, Walking Distance Entertainment.
Paradise declined comment. Walking Distance’s telephone number is not published.
According to the lawsuit and its exhibits, the group signed an agreement with Crystal Entertainment in 2006 that acknowledges that Crystal owns all rights to the trademark Exposé. The agreement stipulates that Crystal will get 10 percent of the proceedings from concerts and 10 percent of the sales of merchandise.
Crystal alleges the group and Paradise directed Walking Distance to seek registration of Exposé on their behalf to “obtain an unfair advantage and ride the coat tails of Crystal’s marketing efforts,” the suit alleges.
Crystal is seeking unspecified triple damages and attorney fees.
In October 2006, band member Gioia Bruno told the Web site AfterEllen.com, which focuses on the portrayal of lesbians and bisexual women in the media, that at the height of Exposé’s popularity, the women were sometimes paid as little as $200 a show by their management when they sang at the Boston Garden and other arenas.
“They kept us down — everybody, the whole bunch of them.” Bruno said.
Exposé lawyer David Helfant of Los Angeles, sent Crystal Entertainment a letter on Aug. 14 to inform the company that the singers hired a trademark expert and discovered Crystal might not own the Exposé name when the band performs in concerts.
Helfant said previous agreements with the band were vague and self-serving regarding ownership of the Exposé name for performances.
“Jeanette [Jurado] had no idea that Crystal’s assertions of ownership of the trademark might not be true, and frankly did not question Crystal’s allegation,” Helfant wrote in the letter.
“It’s a mess,” Helfant said in an interview Tuesday. “My letter says, ‘Tell us why you own the trademark for years.’ On the face of it, it doesn’t look like they do.”
Helfant said the band sued in the late 1980s for a greater percentage of profits from recordings and concerts. They settled for a renegotiated contract.
Robert C. Kain Jr., a Fort Lauderdale trademark attorney representing Crystal, said it was “highly unusual” for a musical group to claim that the artistic product is subject to the trademark agreement but not the performance of the material itself.
“With the resurgence of 1980s and 1990s dance bands, they made a comeback and they have been operating under a trademark contract for 18 months to two years and they just canceled without legal justification,” Kain said.
He noted the contract for the women to use the Exposé name terminates at the end of this year. Kain would not comment on whether the August letter was a pre-emptive strike to keep the name.
“The value of the name of the band is significant because of their past history and current resurgence,” Kain said.
But Michael Chesal, who co-chairs the intellectual property department for Miami law firm of Kluger Peretz Kaplan & Berlin, said a fight over a band name is not uncommon. He said Exposé may have a valid argument.
“Theoretically under a trademark one person could use a name for a service and another person could use a name for an actual product,” Chesal said.
Examples, Chesal said, include Delta Air Lines and Delta Faucets. Apple Records has sued Apple Computers three times, most recently over iTunes because it plays music.
Crystal ended up in the girl group’s picture when it became the successor-in-interest of Miami-based Pantera Productions, which had entered into the trademark agreement and created the band from scratch.
Exposé was formed by producer and songwriter Martinee, who not only created Exposé and its record label, but worked with other seminal club bands, such as the British synthpop/electronic music duo Pet Shop Boys. Initial success with 12-inch dance singles led to Exposé and Martinee being credited with inventing the genre of keyboard-heavy dance music called the Freestyle. As soon as a deal for a full-length record was reached, the three original members were replaced by the current line-up.
Exposé cut “Seasons Change” in 1988 and other hits. Exposé — who rotated lead vocals from among its members — had seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100. Moneymaker joined in the 1990s as the group moved into adult contemporary radio, still singing Martinee songs. The group disbanded in 1995 when Arista Records dropped them.
In 2003, Exposé reunited without Bruno, who later rejoined in 2006, kicking off a tour at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Moneymaker fills in when other members cannot make concert dates.
The group filed its own application with the U.S. Trademark Office for ownership of the Exposé name for live appearances in August. Martinee — whose phone number is unlisted — filed for his own rights to the Exposé name in March and June of this year.
Helfant told Crystal that any revenue in question will be kept in escrow until the matter could be resolved.
“The band’s lawyers invited this lawsuit,” Kain said with a laugh.
Eek! I'm no legal eagle, but this doesn't sound terribly promising.
Gioia will be in Boston for a New Year's weekend gig on Sunday... hopefully I'll get a chance to hook up with her and find out the deal!
Love,
JADE
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