Future‘s Freebandz Productions, LLC and Sony Music have settled a lawsuit against a creative agency which shares the name of the rapper’s eighth studio album, High Off Life.
The lawsuit was originally filed in October 2020 by High Off Life, LLC, an Atlanta-based company owned by independent artist Z. Rich (real name Zach Richards). The company began selling High Off Life-branded clothing in 2009 before expanding into hosting concerts and offering creative services locally.
High Off Life, LLC also shares Hip Hop-centered content to a YouTube channel called High Off Life TV. According to Billboard the company’s trademark infringement lawsuit claimed that the marketing campaign supporting Future’s album made the small firm nearly impossible to locate online.
“Overnight, Defendants destroyed HOL’s investment of many years and many thousands of dollars into building consumer recognition.”
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In April 2022, Sony Music attempted to get the lawsuit dismissed based on a legal precedent called the Rogers Test, which says that a trademark can be used in movie, television show and music titles, as long as the owner of the new copyright doesn’t mislead consumers, and as long as the trademarked name has something to do with the body of work.
At the time, U.S. District Judge Scott Hardy said that he could not make a decision about the validity of the lawsuit without letting both sides present their case.
“Given that further development of a factual record is necessary before conducting an in-depth analysis of Defendants’ First Amendment defense, the Court declines to further consider Defendants’ First Amendment arguments at this stage of the proceedings,” Hardy wrote in court documents.
He also pointed out that the Rogers Test would only protect Freebandz Productions and Sony Music’s use of the High Off Life name as the album’s title, and would not impact any decision having to do with the sale of merch for Future’s album.
On Tuesday (January 3), the parties filed a motion to dismiss the case, notifying the courts that they had reached a settlement. However, they did not make Hardy privy of the terms of the settlement.
Released in May 2020, High Off Life became Future’s seventh No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart. After 12 songs from the album debuted on the Hot 100, Future attained the fourth-most chart entries in Billboard history, pushing Nicki Minaj and Elvis Presley out of the position with 110 charting songs in his discography to their respective 109.
Future’s chart success continued with his latest album, 2022’s I NEVER LIKED YOU, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 222,000 first-week units, while its hit single “WAIT FOR U” featuring Drake and Tems also debuted in the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song ranked as one of the biggest hits of the year as it won Best Collaboration at the BET Hip Hop Awards, Favorite Hip Hop Song at the American Music Awards and was recently crowned Apple Music’s most streamed song of 2022.
I NEVER LIKED YOU has also garnered three of Future’s four 2023 Grammy Nominations, including a nod for Best Rap Album.
The project allowed the Freebandz boss to become the only rapper to spend all of last year on the Hot 100 chart.
Future beat out numerous other big-time rappers including Drake, who remained on the chart for 51 weeks. Other top contenders included Lil Baby, Doja Cat, Jack Harlow, 21 Savage, Latto, and Lil Nas X.
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