A federal judge has provided Bob Marley's family a sweet redemption song by ruling that a Nevada company stole the likeness of the reggae legend to make and sell clothing and toys.
Now the Marley estate will get $300,000 in damages from the company, Avela, and its owner Leo Valencia.
The Marley estate might make even more money from this judgment. Once U.S. District Judge Philip Pro finds out how much profit Avela made from using Marley's likeness, he could award the family additional damages.
The decision is clearly a victory for Marley's heirs, who have seen the image of the reggae music king attached to virtually every product you can imagine.
In September, Marley's heirs lost a major copyright case against record producers that gave Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group control over five classic Marley albums -- 'Catch a Fire,' 'Burnin,' 'Natty Dread,' 'Rastaman Vibrations' and 'Exodus.'
The copyright value of the albums has been estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.
It's a little sad that a man who created some of the most important music ever is being reduced to commodity -- the subject of an ongoing tug-of-war between his family and people trying to make money off his genius.
I hope that every story written about this situation attracts a few curious people to listen to the masterful music making of Bob Marley and the original Wailers, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer.
That way, they will hear what all the fuss is about.
07-Jan-11 - After years of being accused of not telling the entire truth in the Notorious B.I.G.'s murder, a task force of various local and federal law enforcement officials have now told CNN that they are actively pursuing leads in the 13-year-old homicide.
07-Jan-11 - After years of being accused of not telling the entire truth in the Notorious B.I.G.'s murder, a task force of various local and federal law enforcement officials have now told CNN that they are actively pursuing leads in the 13-year-old homicide.
06-Jan-11 - Robert Butler Jr. was found dead in his red Honda blocks from his new school with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, after walking into the principal's office and shooting both the principal and vice principal.
06-Jan-11 - TMZ reports that Tiny (aka Tameka Cottle) confirmed that when she visited her hubby at an Arkansas federal corrections center, she took matters into her own hands when they were left alone in a room.
04-Jan-11 - Heroic Media, an Austin-based pro-life organization, is saturating billboards from Jacksonville, Fla., to Austin, Texas, with an insulting message that blatantly labels black women menaces to society.
29-Dec-10 - Nicole Mitchell Murphy, ex-wife of legendary comedian Eddie Murphy, is nearly flat broke and on the verge of losing the mansion awarded to her in her divorce settlement.
