Kanye West can’t sell White Lives Matter apparel because someone else holds the trademark
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Two black radio hosts have revealed they own the trademark of the phrase “White Lives Matter,” which prevents the artist formerly known as Kanye West or anyone else from taking advantage of the controversial phrase.
Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward, Phoenix-based activists and hosts of the nationally syndicated radio program Civic Cipher, unveiled their trademark rights in a recent interview with radio station KRRL-FM.
“We are the federal trademark holder for White Lives Matter,” said Ja. “If you want to sell that shirt, knock on my door, or go up against Morris, my lawyer.”
It comes weeks after West, who legally changed his name to Ye, showed up at a fashion show in Paris wearing a shirt printed “White Lives Matter,” a slogan created as a response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Days later, amid outrage over the shirt, West was locked out of his Twitter account for posting diatribes attacking Jewish people, in a slump that cost the superstar rapper billions in business deals.
Ramses Ja (left) and Quinton Ward (right), Phoenix-based activists and hosts of the nationally syndicated radio show Civic Cipher, own the ‘White Lives Matter’ trademark
West received furious reactions when he appeared at a fashion show in Paris in a shirt printed with ‘White Lives Matter’, a slogan created in response to Black Lives Matter
Yes and Ward explained that the trademark for ‘White Lives Matter’ was originally registered by one of their listeners, who transferred it to them in a process that was recently completed.
‘This person who first bought it didn’t really like owning it because it wasn’t necessarily about getting rich; the goal was to make sure other people didn’t get rich from that pain,” Ja told the news site Capital B.
Yes and Ward say they plan to enforce their trademark rights to ensure that any use of the phrase ultimately benefits black and brown communities.
“We know that phrases like ‘White Lives Matter’, ‘All Lives Matter’ and ‘Blue Lives Matter’ still wreak havoc and water down the story that was meant to be created by Black Lives Matter,” Ja told Capital B .
“Those sentences are all a reflection of the creativity and efforts of black people, so we’re all in favor of using this as a measure to help black people keep some property,” he added.
A review of federal records confirms that Civic Cipher LLC owns the “White Lives Matter” trademark, which was first registered on Oct. 3.
Yes and Ward say they plan to enforce their trademark rights to ensure that any use of the phrase ultimately benefits black and brown communities
A review of federal records confirms that Civic Cipher LLC owns the “White Lives Matter” trademark, which was first registered on Oct. 3
It means West is legally barred from selling his controversial shirts, which he debuted at a fashion show last month alongside conservative commentator Candace Owens.
However, the trademark doesn’t stop West from wearing the phrase on his clothes, as long as he doesn’t try to take advantage of it.
Last week, West said he lost $2 billion in one day when business associates rushed to dump him because of his anti-Semitic outbursts.
He claimed in a tweet that he wanted to use “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” misspelling the phrase describing US military readiness levels.
The music and fashion mogul has seen lucrative commercial partnerships suspended as companies, including Adidas and Gap, fled in the wake of his despicable comments.
West is legally barred from selling his controversial shirts, which he debuted at a fashion show last month alongside conservative commentator Candace Owens
“I lost 2 billion dollars in one day. And I’m still alive. This is love speech,” West wrote on Instagram on Thursday in a post that has been liked more than a million times.
‘I still love you. God still loves you. The money is not who I am. The people are who I am,” the post said, citing Emanuel Ari, the CEO of entertainment company Endeavour, which had urged companies to cut ties with the rapper.
German sportswear giant Adidas said on Tuesday it was ending its partnership with West after his “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous” comments.
Adidas also said it would end production of the highly successful ‘Yeezy’ line co-designed with West and “stop all payments to Ye and his companies.”
The move is expected to take about a quarter of a billion dollars of Adidas’ profits this year alone.