Filmmakers Defiant Over Lynyrd Skynyrd Film Rights
A judge's finding that a new Lynyrd Skynyrd film violates a "blood oath" made by the band to not exploit the group's name following a fatal plane crash hasn't stopped the film's creators from threatening to distribute the film.
September 07, 2017 at 02:00 PM
4 minute read
A judge's finding that a new Lynyrd Skynyrd film violates a “blood oath” made by the band to not exploit the group's name following a fatal plane crash hasn't stopped the film's creators from threatening to distribute the film.
Lawyers for the filmmakers say in court papers that they can distribute “Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash” to “anyone and everyone in the world” until the judge formally says otherwise. The film was made with input from a former drummer with the pioneering 1970s southern rock band whose hits included “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird.”
U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet in Manhattan recently ruled that the widow of lead singer and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant and others, including founding band member Allen Collins, had shown that the film violates a nearly three-decade-old court-approved agreement aimed at preventing exploitation of the band's name and history. Van Zant died in an October 1977 plane crash in Mississippi.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Trending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 2Wine, Dine and Grind (Through the Weekend): Summer Associates Thirst For Experience in 'Real Matters'
- 3'That's Disappointing': Only 11% of MDL Appointments Went to Attorneys of Color in 2023
- 4What We Know About the Kentucky Judge Killed in His Chambers
- 5'I'm Staying Everything': Texas Bankruptcy Judge Halts Talc Trials Against J&J
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250