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The parent company that owns Coachella Music Festival and Goldenvoice is suing a Black duo from D.C. because the promotion of their musical event sounds vaguely similar to the California festival’s events.
“Moechella” is the creation of local go-go promoters Justin “Yaddiya” Johnson and Kelsye Adams. On Feb. 3, they were served papers in the District Court for The District of Columbia for three copyright complaints.
Moechella, according to the lawsuit, is infringing on Coachella’s trademark, lying about its origin per a false designation of origin, and violating common trademark infringement laws without using a trademark.
The Washingtonian reported that although the creators did not initially call their event Moechella, the parody-like festival got its nickname from D.C. protesters who were outraged at a local Metro PCS store that prevented its outdoor speakers from playing go-go in 2019.
Johnson, and his attorney Nate Kelly, are hopeful that the lawsuit can be dropped, and optimistic that, with the help of the community, he and Adams can rename Moechella into something else. “I have no problem pivoting from the name,” Johnson said. “The name was brought to me by the people, so I want to make them a part of renaming it.”
Coachella Music Festival owner, Anschutz Entertainment Group, claims the trademark infringement damages its brand, arguing that Coachella has exclusive rights to both “Coachella” and “Chella,” according to the Washington City Paper.
Johnson’s Original Event Name
“Long Live GoGo” was Johnson’s original event name. “He didn’t name it Moechella, and the use in regards to the global D.C. protest movement is not something that he can choose to use or not,” Kelly said. The problem in Johnson’s defense is that the promoter rebelled against Coachella’s trademark on record, with Johnson saying, “I’m not going to stop using the name. It’s a protest.”
Johnson has also promoted the event as Moechella on Instagram, under the account name Moechella. He even promoted merchandise like a sweatshirt with the name inscribed on it with the same font stylization as Coachella on his platform.
Johnson admitted that Moechella is a direct reference to Coachella on a trademark application, and that he hosted events in D.C. and California.
His “It’s a protest” quote is included in the suit and is part of Coachella’s argument that Moechella is engaging in unfair competition. He and Adams withdrew their trademark application for Moechella two weeks after the Cali arts and music festival was trying to block it.
“Moe” is a DC-derived slang that identifies a person similarly to someone from New York using the term “son.” Go-go, indigenous to the 1970s Funk movement and predates hip-hop, is the official music of Washington, D.C., theGrio reported.
