Drake’s terrible, no-good 2024 continues. The beleaguered rapper, who already saw his reputation take several hits from his ill-advised war of words with Kendrick Lamar, is now being sued for copyright infringement by clothing brand Members Only. According to Billboard, the point of contention is a T-shirt Drake sold during his It’s All a Blur Tour emblazoned with the established brand’s name. The T-shirt referred to the title of a song on Drake’s latest album, For All The Dogs, which, in turn, was most likely inspired by the brand itself.
And while Drake can easily title a song “Members Only,” putting those words on a piece of clothing — the Members Only brand’s domain — he exposed himself to legal action. As the lawsuit states, “The fact that ‘Members Only’ is a song on Drake’s album ‘For All the Dogs’ does not obviate the likelihood of confusion or give [him] a license to use our client’s ‘Members Only’ marks in such a confusing manner, particularly on or in connection with apparel items.”
The fact that Drake’s tour production company, Away From Home Touring Inc., sold shirts bearing the words “Members Only” could have confused fans into thinking the brand Members Only was involved, according to the suit (just typing that out made me a little dizzy). “Away From Home sold … goods bearing the mark ‘Members Only’ that are identical, overlapping, and/or highly similar to the goods that JR Apparel sells bearing its MEMBERS ONLY Marks,” it alleges. Which means that Drake only has one more headache to deal with, when he’s supposed to be off somewhere licking his wounds.
