{"id":484991,"date":"2019-04-23T09:20:14","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T15:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=825896"},"modified":"2019-04-23T09:20:14","modified_gmt":"2019-04-23T15:20:14","slug":"cro-mags-lawsuit-harley-flanagan-wins-band-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/cro-mags-lawsuit-harley-flanagan-wins-band-name\/","title":{"rendered":"Cro-Mags Lawsuit: Harley Flanagan Wins Band Name"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After ages of quarrel, the members of the New York hardcore group the Cro-Mags<\/a> have reached an agreement over the band name. Bassist-vocalist Harley Flanagan announced Monday that he had won the rights to use the name, while vocalist John Joseph and drummer Mackie Jayson would continue to tour as Cro-Mags \u201cJM.\u201d There will still be about three months\u2019 more confusion, though, until Joseph\u2019s Cro-Mags starts using the \u201cJM\u201d suffix.<\/p>\n

\u201cI, as the founder of the band and bass player on all Cro-Mags albums \u2026 will be performing as Cro-Mags going forward and have exclusive ownership of the name as such in all commercial purposes worldwide,\u201d Flanagan said in a statement. \u201cDuring this transition period, to confirm which band you want to see, please check on our websites or social media pages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flanagan filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court last May claiming Joseph and Jayson had taken control of the group, according to the New York Post<\/a><\/em>. He claimed he had come up with the idea of the band in 1981 (Joseph has disputed this) but that in 2002 he decided to stop touring to help raise his first son. Around this time, the singer and drummer started using the moniker without his permission. Flanagan said in the lawsuit that he\u2019d registered the Cro-Mags trademark for merchandise in 2009, for recording 2010 and then renewed it in 2017.<\/p>\n

In 2012, Flanagan stabbed and bit Cro-Mags members Mike Couls and William Berardo backstage at CBGB fest. Joseph told the Post<\/a><\/em> that the attack was part of a feud wherein the Flanagan alleged stole 10s of thousands of dollars in revenue from a European tour. The paper claimed Flanagan yelled, \u201cThey think they\u2019re going to play my fucking music that I helped write,\u201d before the attack. Couls and Berardo filed a lawsuit against him. The fate of that lawsuit is unknown.<\/p>\n