Remember Loisaidas? The film Kanye West and Dame Dash collaborated on? They’ve just won the lawsuit that was filed against them back in 2015 over the movie’s title.
Michael Medina, a member of the Latin band by the same name, sued the two rap connoisseurs. Medina says the film spoiled the band’s name, but too bad “Loisaidas” is also a slang reference to Manhattan’s Lower East Side so technically it’s fair use for anyone to use.
Medina, who trademarked the name, claimed both West and Dash were aware of the band name while using it in their film. U.S District judge Katherine Forrest, says “the Loisaidas film title clearly has artistic relevance and Medina’s complaint is devoid of concrete allegations that defendants attempted to suggest that plaintiff’s duo produced the work; to the contrary, as evidenced by Exhibit D to the operative complaint, materials promoting the film prominently informed the reader that it was executive produced by Dame Dash and Kanye West.”
She went on to say, “Medina is entitled to protect his duo’s trademark, but not by staking his claim to a pre-existing term and then attempting to remove all expressive, non-explicitly-misleading uses from public circulation”, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Dash, who currently stars on BET’s Music Moguls, and West are both very outspoken and vicious when it comes to business so you know they weren’t going down without a fight here.
