Nipsey Hussle’s Estate Sues Alleged Counterfeiters
Nipsey Hussle’s estate is cracking down on bootleggers trying to make a profit off of the late rapper’s death.
Samiel Asghedom, the late rapper’s brother and estate administrator, filed a suit against several sellers who the estate believes are behind websites that are selling fake Marathon-related clothing, per TMZ.
“The Marathon Clothing” is the Crenshaw native’s clothing brand that features athleisure clothing items such as sweatshirts, t-shirts, and accessories.
Asghedom says the estate has the rights to several registered trademarks including a “Crenshaw” logo for clothing, another clothing line called “South Central State of Mind” and others. The estate claims the websites in question are using the marks without permission, per the outlet.
The estate believes that the sites are operating out of China and have specifically targeted sales to Illinois residents which explains why the lawsuit is being filed in the federal court of Illinois. They also believe that the sites are working with one another and “using different operating systems and domain host sites to cover their tracks,” per TMZ.
According to the lawsuit per the outlet, the companies are also copying the same e-commerce methods such as similar checkout processes, accepting the same type of payments, and using similar ad tactics. There are also obvious signs that it is not the original site such as multiple misspellings and outside linking to sites.
The estate is looking for the judge to force the sites to hand over any domain registrations associated with Nipsey. They are also looking for a huge payout and will settle for all the profits from the merch sales or $2 million per infraction.
