LL Cool J May Luck into ‘Rock the Bells’ Rights for Sirius Channel

Rapper/actor LL Cool J filed a trademark infringement suit against a concert promoter that used his song title "Rock the Bells" for its music festival for nine years. The rapper filed the suit as he aims to secure intellectual property protection for his new "Rock the Bells" station on Sirius XM. He claims he was not aware that the song title was being used at time and therefore had not previously fought for the rights, despite the fact that the festival featured other well-known rap artists. The company, Guerilla Union Inc., did not renew its related trademarks, is no longer in operation, and doesn't appear to be fighting for the rights, so LL Cool J's inaction during the nine year period may work in his favor. Bloomberg Law reached to Finnegan attorney Margaret Esquenet for her thoughts on the case. 

Margaret said, “Artists really need to think about when and if they outgrow, or want to go past, their initial art form. What kinds of intellectual property rights do you want to get squared away so you can take yourself and your brand to a different artistic space?”