Gibson v. Funko & 4 Other Rock Lawsuits

Lawsuits are fun, aren't they?  In the world of rock and roll, there certainly isn't a shortage of them, and the latest suit could increase the value of some action figures.

Here are five unique (and sometimes strange) rock lawsuits.

Many of you likely own a Funko figure of your favorite rockstar, and some of those Funkos may feature those rockers brandishing a Gibson guitar.  Here's the problem:  Funko may not have gotten permission from Gibson to feature the likeness of their guitars, like a Les Paul, with those figures.  Per Law360, Gibson Brand Inc. is suing Funko for "making repeated unauthorized use of its trademarks for various components of the guitars in Funko's toys."

If this is true, Funko could be in some big trouble.

Boughton attended a show of Stewart’s in 1989 at the then Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Mich.  During Stewart’s show when he traditionally kicks a soccer ball into the crowd, the ball hit Boughton’s hand that allegedly resulted in a ruptured tendon in her middle finger.  She sued Stewart for $75K with one of her claims being “loss of companionship.”  Boughton’sthen-husband said the injury posed difficulty for them to “get into sexual activity.”  The suit was later settled for $17K.

Have you ever attended a show so bad you wanted to sue the band?  Four Creed fans did just that in 2003.  The fans saw the band at a December 29, 2002 show in Rosemont, Ill. where they allege that singer Scott Stapp was in a such a state that he could barely sing.  He also left the stage on several occasions during songs for long periods of time, rolled around on the floor of the stage in apparent pain or distress, and appeared to pass out while on stage during the performance."  The lawsuit would eventually be thrown out.

Before Axl Rose and Slash buried the hatchet, Axl filed a lawsuit regarding Slash’s imagery being used on the video game Guitar Hero III.  Axl apparently gave permission to Activision for the use of “Welcome To The Jungle” so long as no images of Slash would be used.  Imagine how pissed Axl was when an animated Slash WAS ON THE COVER AND IN THE COMMERCIAL!  To be exact, he was $20 million dollars pissed, however, the suit would later be dismissed.

Saved the strangest for last!  In 2013, Chubby Checker sued Hewlett-Packard for half a billion dollars due to “irreparable damage and harm” under the Communications Decency Act.  Why?  Because of the Chubby Checker app.

You might be asking yourself, “What’s the Chubby Checker app?”

Well…it was an app that estimated that size of a man’s penis based on the size of his shoes, because rulers are so 20^th century.  Checker and HP would later settle the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount.

Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.