Glenn Danzig is suing his former Misfits bandmate Jerry Only over alleged lost earnings.
Danzig – who left the band in 1983 – claims bass player Only secretly registered trademarks relating to Misfits merchandise to himself in 2000, cutting the singer out of any profit. The items allegedly registered by Only – real name Gerrard Caiafa – include the band’s ‘Fiend Skull’ logo.
According the Danzig, the move violated a 1994 contract in which the band members agreed to share ownership of the trademarks. Danzig says he has lost out on earnings in excess of £44,000 plus interest.
The complaint, lodged by Danzig with California Central District Court, reads: “Caiafa‘s misrepresentations have proximately caused injury to Danzig by causing merchandisers not to do business with him, and have deceived consumers as to the source of merchandise bearing the Marks, because the vast majority of the Misfits fans associate the Marks with the 1977-1983 classic Misfits era when Danzig was the creative heart of the Misfits, and not with Caiafa‘s imitation Misfits.
“Caiafa has prevented and continues to prevent other retailers, including Hot Topic, which is the largest retailer of the Misfits products, from entering into licenses with Danzig and/or his designee to merchandise products bearing the Fiend Skull and other Marks by falsely instructing the merchandisers that he is the exclusive owner of the Marks, and that, if they enter into a license agreement with Danzig to exploit the Marks, they must pay Caiafa a license fee and/or a significant monetary penalty.”
Two Misfits albums were released while Danzig was the band’s frontman – Walk Among Us and Earth A.D. Two others – Static Age and 12 Hits From Hell – were recorded with Danzig but only released years later.
