CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 17: Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood - Lady Antebellum headlines 2016 Windy City LakeShake Country Music Festival - Day 1 at FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island on June 17, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Image: Getty)
Lady A, the country band formerly known as Lady Antebellum is suing blues singer Anita White over the use of name “Lady A.” The band filed the lawsuit asking the court to enforce the trademark that they own on the name on July 8. White has been using this name for almost 20 years while the band claims to have been using it since 2006.
The band’s members Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood made a statement that said, “Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended. She and her team have demanded a $10 million payment, so reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that we need to ask a court to affirm our right to continue to use the name Lady A, a trademark we have held for many years.”
In 2010, Lady Antebellum had applied to use Lady A for entertainment purposes and registered to use it for musical recordings and clothing. All requests were granted. The attorney for the band states White “did not oppose” any of these and “has not sought to cancel and of the LADY A registrations.”
The band had decided to change its name in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in police custody by an officer kneeling on his neck. This is due to the fact that the word Antebellum has racist ties.
On June 11 the band tweeted, “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. As musicians, it reminded us of all the music born in the south that influenced us…southern rock, blues, R&B, gospel and of course country. But we are regretful and embarrassed to say that we did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word referring to the period of history before the civil war, which includes slavery.”
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Kate Reynolds why do you leave out the fact that the original Lady A tried to extort 10 million dollars from Lady A the country band. Why don’t we let the lawsuit be determined. Lady Antebellum only filed their suit after her actions. They are not asking for money or her to give up her name. Just to share it. BKM wants equality. I don’t think that is what they want. I believe they want us to pay for the inequalities they have suffered. I’m for equality but I’m also for peace. Articles like this do not evoke peace and neither does Anita White