Coachella Files Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Afrochella

GOLDENVOICE, the organizers of Coachella, have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit towards the organizers of Afrochella, a Ghanaian music pageant specializing in Afrobeats music.

The lawsuit got here three years after the homeowners of Goldenvoice issued a warning to the Afrochella pageant organizers about infringing on the pageant’s trademark.

“We understand that you are using Afrochella as the name of a music and arts festival. We note that your event is part of a larger celebration that is designed to attract those living abroad (including those in the United States) to return home to Africa,” AEG wrote to Afrochella organizers in 2019. 

Despite that preliminary warning, and following a pandemic-postponed fest in 2020, Afrochella returned to Accra, Ghana in 2021 and 2022. However, with the pageant set to increase to South Africa later this month and organizers internet hosting offshoot U.S. occasions. 

In addition to the equally named festivals, Goldenvoice claims of their lawsuit that Afrochella organizers even tried to patent each “Coachella” and “Chella” in Ghana, and famous that the “Chella” portion of their Afrochella brand makes use of an almost equivalent font as Coachella does.

“Regardless of the celebration or event, your use of Afrochella as the name of a music and arts festival is highly likely to create a likelihood of confusion and mistake as to the affiliation, connection, or association of you with AEG and with Coachella. In particular, the public is likely to believe that you are authorized by, or affiliated with, AEG or Coachella. You have even admitted that your event name and your event were inspired by Coachella. Similarly, comments to own your own Facebook page comment that your festival name is merely trading on the goodwill of the Coachella mark.”

Despite that preliminary warning, and following a pandemic-postponed fest in 2020, Afrochella returned to Accra, Ghana in 2021 and 2022. However, with the pageant set to increase to South Africa later this month and organizers internet hosting offshoot U.S. occasions, Goldenvoice filed a lawsuit to additional shield what they declare is possession of all issues “-chella.”

In addition to the equally named festivals, Goldenvoice claims of their lawsuit that Afrochella organizers even tried to patent each “Coachella” and “Chella” in Ghana, and famous that the “Chella” portion of their Afrochella brand makes use of an almost equivalent font as Coachella does.

“Not simply content to imitate and attempt to trade on the goodwill of Chella and Coachella, Defendants even went so far as to apply in Ghana to register Coachella and Chella as their trademarks, using the same stylization as Plaintiffs’ registered Coachella (stylized) mark,” the lawsuit states.

The organizers of Afrochella have additionally “expanded their infringing conduct into the United States by promoting, presenting, and/or sponsoring at least seven different music events using the mark Afrochella’ in the Los Angeles area, and have refused to curtail their infringing use of Plaintiff’s registered marks, necessitating the filing of this federal lawsuit,” the lawsuit continued.

Goldenvoice additionally supplied social media proof of how music followers are complicated the 2 festivals, together with a tweet the place somebody wrote, “Tbh first time I heard the name Afrochella I thought Coachella was trying to enter the African sphere.” The lawsuit additionally presents proof, through a tweet, displaying that Afrochella organizer Edward Elohim attended the 2018 Coachella and admitted that the Indio, CA fest impressed Afrochella. “A Coachella-themed event wasn’t going to be called the Gye Nyame Fest,” Elohim tweeted.

The lawsuit additionally famous that the African pageant’s web site is a North American-based area, which helps it draw U.S. festival-goers: “A substantial portion of the revenue generated from the travel tours sold on the website accessible at the afrochella.com domain name are from US-based customers.”

In addition to a right away restraining order on the Afrochella identify, Goldenvoice can also be looking for “damages for trademark and service mark infringement and unfair competition,” in addition to $100,000 over claims of cybersquatting domains.

The organizers of Coachella have beforehand filed authorized motion towards any unrelated festivals that encroached on their model, together with a 2016 lawsuit towards the organizers of the underground music pageant Hoodchella. In 2021, The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians tried to host a New Year’s occasion known as Coachella Day One 22, which prompted Goldenvoice and AEG to file a restraining order towards promoter Live Nation; the tribe itself had sovereign immunity and couldn’t be sued overusing the Coachella identify.