'Lady A' lawsuit makes the band look terrible (Opinion) - CNN In the end, money talks, and progressiveness on race is often tied to a brand's ability to stay profitable. View more opinion on CNN. Blues singer Lady A is fighting back months after country band Lady A sued her in an ongoing dispute over their shared moniker. Anita “Lady A” White released a lengthy statement to explain her side in the lawsuit the country band previously known as "Lady Antebellum" has filed against her in … 249 likes. Seattle’s Lady A — who got her performing start in a Motown Revue band in the Eighties — says she holds a business trademark for Lady A LLC but … This June, following national protests about race and policing. But we would not be wrong to view many of these with skepticism. Lady Sunshine and the X-Band was formed in 1994 and has been causing quite a stir since then. But beyond the legal framework are symbolic questions that make the band look terrible. That they never even had to stop and think of what the term meant is itself a sign of their privilege. Lady A, the singer (real name Anita White), has filed a federal lawsuit against the band and members Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, claiming trademark infringement and … Lady Antebellum Changes Its Name To Lady A On June 15, the band posted to Instagram a screenshot of a Zoom call it had with White. However, the suit says the band got trademark protection for the name in 2011 after using it. Although only three were supposed to be in the group, a fourth was added at the last minute. [2] However, they were able to perform on Korean music shows only a handful of times, while their music and videos were not well received. Lady & The Band. The legal battle between the Lady As is heating up. Seattle blues singer Anita "Lady A" White has countersued the country band Lady A, in an escalating legal dispute over their name. Their formation was inspired by the emergence of Harisu, a Korean singer and actress, who is also transgender. A man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living … First, even though White never sought trademark protection for the name "Lady A," she was there first, and used the name for years before TBFKALA came along. Directed by Nicholas Hytner. [1] The band consisted of Sinae, Sahara, Binu and Yuna. Seattle blues singer Lady A has released a new single, ‘My Name Is All I Got’, which apparently references her legal battle with the band Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum. band & artist news, reviews, interviews, videos & … They got to have it both ways; they were able to join the, The mere fact that you can sue to vindicate a legal right doesn't necessarily mean that you ought to. Sinae has previously appeared in commercials with a female dance group as well as a music video by Cho PD, and Sahara is a 2003 beauty pageant winner in Thailand and a former jeans model. Lady A the singer is countersuing Lady A the band, which changed its name from Lady Antebellum earlier this year because of … The band now finds itself in a complicated situation of its own making. Under the law, that may entitle her to rights to the name. A news article from the Independent, dated October 22, 2005. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lady_(group)&oldid=986102821, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 29 October 2020, at 20:16. Conversely, the effect of costly litigation on White -- the kind of Black performer the country ought to be trying to elevate now -- could be profound. America has a long history of enabling White artists', Along these lines, it is incredibly hard to feel compassion for a group of White Southerners who voluntarily chose to profit off of (then claim ignorance about) a term that an 11th-grade history student would know is tied to slavery in the United States. These are questions for the parties, a court or the marketplace to sort out. Although only three were supposed to be in the group, a fourth was added at the last minute. A news article from the China Daily, dated March 24, 2005. Charles Kelley (L), Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum perform "Long Stretch of Love" during the 2015 CMT Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, June 10, 2015. Lady (Hangul: 레이디) was a Korean pop group, noted as the first transgender group from that country. Were it not for those threats, the team would likely have continued digging in about the name, as it had for decades. Courtesy Lady A Singer Anita White, also known as Lady A, released a statement over the weekend saying that the country group of the same name … "Transparent, honest, and … With Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Clare Hammond. While such a sum may seem outrageous, it may not be, for two big reasons. ", chorus of public figures and brands signaling their virtue on issues of race. JOIN US ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/TGMChannel CLICK THE LINK TO SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1jh25Db Taken from the album "Lady" Unfortunately there are no concert dates for Lady The Band scheduled in 2020. To be clear, this isn't just about TBFKALA. The country group formerly known as Lady Antebellum announced last week that it was changing its name due to the association with slavery. While this may look like a case of David vs. Goliath, here both David and Goliath have entirely valid legal interests to protect. Most importantly, the decision to drop the "Antebellum" stemmed from what they claimed was a desire to be more sensitive on issues of race. Lady A's Charles Kelley says band's name change 'shouldn't be a divisive issue' - The Number One music magazine feat. The band expressed in their announcement of the name change that in naming the band, they "did not take into account" the associations with the term and slavery. Put another way, while the name change might have helped the band or its listeners manage their guilt, we can safely say that Lady Antebellum changing its name affected the life of not a single Black American in a meaningful way. the band dropped the "Antebellum" and shortened its name to Lady A, "interchangeably with 'Lady Antebellum' since the 2006-2007 timeframe. They have won seven Grammys and countless other honors. The band and singer were in the process of negotiating when White decided the agreement "was not in her best interests" because it would’ve let the band use the name Lady A … While one of White's demands was that she not have to share the name with the band, the law allows there to be two Lady A's (. A principal at The Raben Group, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm, he was formerly a deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department and an assistant director at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the Obama administration. It should not have taken. Lady A is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2006. Put another way, plenty of public figures and companies presented themselves as racial progressives in the days during and following the protests. For many, that progressiveness seems to stop as soon as dollars are involved. According to the official story, they were the best out of hundreds who tried out to be part of this band. The band claims that after White's team demanded $10 million ($5 million for her, and $5 million for charity), they. The Stax-Volt legacy is definitely alive and kickin g with these players! Songkick … Lady A, the band, asked for a judgment declaring that their use of the Lady A trademark does not infringe White’s use. They have not been alone among many individuals and organizations that issued statements working through their own evolution on race. Last week, the members of country group Lady Antebellum announced that they had finally decided to do something about the racist undertones of … GQ & The Lady, New England Entertainment, Live Music, wedding bands, corporate entertainment, Newport, Rhode Island, bands, music, Boston bands, weddings ... GQ and the Ladies Band is an experienced, exciting, diverse band that can rock the party for your guests no … Whenever someone brings up this Grammy-winning trio*, the only tidbits I can bring to the table are that they have great harmony and that two of the band members of Lady … This group is a product of the Motor City and is a reflection of the very essence of Detroit - Emotion, Fire, Pride, and Soul. ", Singer calls out country group after lawsuit: Not what an ally does, 'That's some White privilege': Blues singer Anita White on Lady A lawsuit. According to their court filing, the band formerly known as Lady Antebellum (I'll just call them "TBFKALA" for short) has sold 18 million album units and 34 million tracks and been streamed some 5 billion times. Sign up for CNN Opinion's new newsletter. For instance, Monday's announcement from the Washington Redskins that they are dropping their racist team name was only possible because of sponsors' explicit threat to dissociate with the brand. Second, in a music marketplace in which outlets such as Spotify and Pandora facilitate instant global distribution of artists' work, it can be challenging to put a dollar amount on the market value of even a solo former karaoke artist in the Pacific Northwest. The case dates back to June when the band, formerly known as … Given that sometimes a lawsuit isn't just a lawsuit, the solution here was to keep at the negotiating table and come to consensus, saying, as the band does in ". But … The lawsuit exposes the emptiness of their gesture. The group is composed of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and Dave Haywood. The band consisted of Sinae, Sahara, Binu and Yuna. Scott is the daughter of country music singer Linda Davis, and Kelley is the brother of pop singer Josh Kelley. The views expressed here are the author's. There was much attention given to them by the press, given their unique status as a transgender band in a conservative country. If so, hauling a 61-year-old Black public servant into federal court is a rather curious way to go about that. And it's their own tone deafness, not morning light, that is making things worse. (CNN)As a country act sang in the 2008 hit "Lookin' For a Good Time," "complicated situations/only get worse in the morning light.". — Lady A (@ladyantebellum) June 11, 2020 "When we set out together almost 14 years ago, we named our band after the southern 'antebellum' style home where we took our first photos. According to the official story, they were the best out of hundreds who tried out to be part of this band. Elliot Williams (@elliotcwilliams) is a CNN legal analyst. At the time they applied for protection, any member of the public -- including White -- could have contested their application. In order to drum up more publicity, they released a photobook featuring nude shots of all the Lady members;[3] this also failed to catapult them into stardom, however. In a similar way, no matter how much legal merit there is behind their lawsuit, TBFKALA seems to be only as "woke" as their litigation and financial interests allowed them to be. She did not (though her failure to do so is not dispositive or settles the issue in favor of the group). Lady A, the band, is suing Anita White, who has performed under the name Lady A for two decades after they said she “demanded a $10 million payment” to use the name, band … Find information on all of Lady The Band’s upcoming concerts, tour dates and ticket information for 2020-2021. That band was, at the time, named Lady Antebellum. 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