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DJ Kool Herc Is Suing HBO For Using His Name & Likeness

blame it on Patrick Glynn May 6, 2016
dj-kool-herc

Any of y’all watch Vinyl? I’ve been meaning to get into it, but the pilot is two hours long. It’s a damn movie to start a TV show. I’ll keep on with season two of Daredevil for now.

But anyway, the show is about the development of rock ‘n’ roll music and genres surrounding it, along with the music industry as a whole, in the 1970s. Hip-hop music’s roots started in the decade, and it was addressed in an episode in its first season.

In an episode, a man playing DJ Kool Herc, one of the founding members of the culture, was depicted at a party on his turntables scratching records — one of the bases of hip-hop. The main character of the show, a label executive, was apparently shown in awe of what Kool Herc was doing. But because he wasn’t paid for his name and likeness to be used, Kool Herc — real name Clive Campbell — is suing HBO, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“It’s beyond us why HBO and the producers of Vinyl, a successful show about artists and music,” Kool Herc’s lawyer, Taso Pardalis said, “would hurt an artist like Herc who has contributed so much to the music industry.”

According to the complaint, found by THR, Campbell was offered $10,000 to “consult” the show and waive all rights to his likeness to the show after the segments were filmed. He declined, but HBO used it anyway. Maybe not as much as they had planned, but they still used it.

I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t plan on conducting a court of public opinion, so we’ll just have to wait to see how this one progresses.