A film created with help from a former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer violates a “blood oath” surviving band members made not to exploit the band's name and history, a judge concluded as he blocked its distribution, siding with a surviving member of the 1970s pioneering Southern rock group and the widow of its lead singer.

The decision by Judge Robert Sweet of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York was unsealed Monday at the request of a lawyer for a Los Angeles-based independent record label that planned to distribute the film, “Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash.” It was dated last Wednesday.

In the 1970s, the band rode the popularity of classics like “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird” to stardom before lead singer and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant died in the October 1977 crash in Mississippi. The same year, the band released its final album: “Street Survivor.”