1:03 pm, Dont tell me what I would profess, Sparky. In American history, the "antebellum" era (literally, "before the war") refers to the period of the 19th century before the Civil War. April 7, 2021 @ Lady A, formerly Lady Antebellum, is clashing over the name with Seattle-based blues singer Lady A. Lady Antebellum is changing its name. I hope the end game of the BLM movement is not intended to be black people cant ever get sued. Because to me the optics of altering ones behavior based on race/color is what we are fighting for in the first place. Now, if youre a band like Lady A, perhaps you can reassemble some of those pieces better than a band starting out. If everything is racist, nothing is racist. Lady A is my brand, Ive used it for over 20 years, and Im proud of what Ive done. Agenda began. *[at fests where their set was before the acts we came to see]. Lady Antebellum is NOT a big concern. Dee Manning Mitch Callum It's been two months since Lady A returned to touring with the What A Song Can Do Tour. The name itself, albeit stupid, did no real harm. I agree. (also, lets be honest. Furthermore, everyone knows what the A stands for. (If anybody thinks Im making shoot up, Google this stuff.). (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images). Military bases named for Confederate generals are under consideration to be renamed. This is the reason B.J. But although the . Dude you miss the key fact. The highest-grossing movie of Tarantino's career, Django Unchained was a refreshing Revisionist Western that explored the horrific racism and atrocities of the Antebellum South without holding . They could have just changed it to Lady Belle (assuming thats available) and gone forth with life.. Basically, youre starting over, especially in this day and age. "We've watched and listened more than ever these last few weeks, and our hearts have been stirred with conviction, our eyes opened wide to the injustices, inequality and biases Black women and men have always faced and continue to face everyday. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images for CMT/Viacom) The popular country band Lady Antebellum is undergoing a name change. I feel sorry for the threesome. Grammy-winning band Lady Antebellum has now changed their name to 'Lady A' to eliminate any reference to pre-Civil War slavery and racial injustice. Related: Blues singer lambasts Lady Antebellum's name change, says she's been Lady A for 20 years. They could change their name to Lady Dixie and really send the left over the edge. Im disappointed in the headline that Billboard and other news outlets are using as click bait, when the article clearly states that the band is only responding to a 10M $ extortion demand. Once again the online mobespecially on Twitteris reacting to a drive-by, 260-character notion of the story instead of the actual situation with all the details. Id rather not listen to Eye in the Sky. Creepy song. Theyre going out of their way to say they want to share it with the artist Lady A, and that she has every right to continue to use it. You have to properly gauge the intent of individuals and zoom out to see the bigger picture. Im sure hes an intellectual property specialist who knows a lot more about trademark law than anybody here. Whiskey_Pete People like getting fired up about something but everyone moves on in a matter of days or weeks. There will not be a better comment on this story, period. Sports leagues such as the NFL and NASCAR are addressing past policies that were seen to prejudice Black people, and even leading media publications have been forced to apologize for their past actions. In the statement that they posted online, the group explained both the origin of the name, and their decision to change it. Luckyoldsun WHY IS HE IN THE GROUP? Their sales and streams are in line with Americana and independent country acts like Jason Isbell now. ), Lady A spoke out about the name change they underwent over a year ago. Maybe the white woke millennial trio should change their name back to Lady Antebellum. Too much like Southern Belle which offers up images from the same time period when slavery was prevalent. We will continue to educate ourselves, have hard conversations, and search the parts of our hearts that need pruning, The band also said theyll be making a donation to the Equal Justice Initiative, which according to the organizationswebsite is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society., Moreover, Lady A wants to be better allies to those suffering from spoken and unspoken injustices. February 15, 2021 @ Congrats on your new name. Theyre will to share the trademark with Lady A the artist, who is asking an exorbitant amount of money from them. And even movies like the Academy Award winning movie Gone With the Wind are being temporarily pulled from online media channels. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Get the best of Fox News' entertainment coverage, right in your inbox. * pic.twitter.com/zQ7TrrL7VJ, Medium Historian At Large (@one0nine) June 11, 2020. 11:17 pm. Lady Antebellum have changed their name to "Lady A" and issued a statement apologizing for any hurt their original name may have caused. Or what if shes not really a lady at all? But this apparent good deed towards the Black Lives Matter movement didnt go unpunished for long. heartfelt message to social media on Thursday (June 11), explaining its realization that Antebellum is a reference to slavery in America. But lets remember, this is a band that a few years ago basically broke up because nobody was paying attention to them. Big Machine has no interest in doing so. July 11, 2020 @ I think these political arguments are healthy and necessary. In reality, they just want a judge to say they can use the name too. 11:50 am. 9:39 am. Dont they have people who are supposed to do all this for them? The dec action may have been a tad preemptive, but this is a good way for Anita White to clamor down. The concern was a murmur at best. You must use your trademark for it to remain valid, and you cant selectively enforce it. Theyve owned the trademark on Lady A for 10 years. As I have said, $10 million is a ludicrous number, but very well could have been floated out there simply as a negotiation platform, knowing they would never get it, hoping for half at best. But when you call someone out for playing a concert, and claim there were 4,000 people there and it was a normal show like The Washington Post did initially, and half a dozen other outlets did (The Daily Mail STILL has not updated the TITLE of their article https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8468633/Country-singer-Chase-Rice-hosts-concert-4-000-fans-Tennessee.html), which then inspires a sitting US Congressman and THOUSANDS of others to tweet out this incorrect information, when people find out the truth, it erodes your entire argument. I have read that even the term master bedroom is now off limits. Its certainly not Lady Antebellum. Can we just put an asterisk next to all band names created pre-2020 and move on with our day? How about not being a pussy. The Grammy-winning vocal group filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court after negotiations with Anita White broke down in recent weeks. As many others have pointed out, erasing Antebellum but leaving the A is a little disingenuous since everyone knows what it stands for. This is a BETA experience. Otherspraised the band for acknowledging and growing from its past mistakes. After much personal reflection, band discussion, prayer and many honest conversations with some of our closest Black friends and colleagues, we have decided to drop the word antebellum from our name and move forward as Lady A, the nickname our fans gave us almost from the start, the band, made up of Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott, said in a statement. None of this is present in band name changes or society in general. And if they like Lady A better, more power to them. But if country music avoids being banned over the terms link to ideas of untoward nationalism, radio stations will no longer be playing music by hit group Lady Antebellum. 12/21/2020. She also noted the . But if Anita White wanted to dispute it, she had an opportunity. Whats the point. The Chicks spoke with Stephen Colbert about the name change, explaining that they'd wanted to do so for a while, and made sure they had their "ducks in a row legally" before announcing the change. We are deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused, Lady A say of the term Antebellum.. As I said elsewhere, $10 million is a joke. PAGOCK! A millennial White privilege sh^%y country group suing the poor black woman . Where the name 'Lade Antebellum' came from. Extortion is an extremely strong word, and not one I have or would use. The world is changing quickly, and the future is unsure. If I Change Your Name, they should do a cover of Destinys Child Say My Name and donate the proceeds to the out of work tour crew, Apparently private individuals making decisions that are right for them separate from the state is too much for so called conservatives, a stirring in our hearts and reflection on our own blindspots There was a band named The Highwomen before The Highwomen formed, for example. And seeing the sheer outrage by peoplemost of whom as Shane McAnally said are simply reacting to a title instead of the nuance of the storyis definitely telling when you balance it with the utter silence on the Highwomen issue. These controversies ensue on false pretenses and shocking headlines. I fail to see ANY upside to clinging to a name no one heard of before anyway. P.C. But we are regretful and embarrassed to say that we did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word referring to the period of history before The Civil War, which includes slavery. Somebody, somewhere screwed up. The band applied to register Lady A specifically (not just Lady Antebellum) in May of 2010. Chase Rice really did take a selfie with a large crowd of unmasked fans, and did post the we back vid to make it look packed as possible. Now theyre the avatars of oppression, only because its what is filling peoples Twitter feeds. 9:48 pm, And the Grammy collaboration of the year goes to. Ms. Whites LADY A brand had been usurped and set on the path to erasure.. I think Lady Anodyne would probably fit them the best because they strive to sound like inoffensive, new age pablum. Trademark rights are based on use, not registration. Lady Antebellum could always change her name to Lady ?, but then shes be infringing on the band ? From a legal perspective, not much time has passed in this matter. But perhaps most dramatically, the old symbols of the Confederacy, the group of states that seceded from the United States and sparked Americas Civil War, are finally being seen for the racist and incendiary associations they represent to Black Americans. Dove Shore*. I have no issue with them changing their name at all. I dont think thats extortion, but it is the kind of bad faith platform that might compel the Lady Antebellum team to make the exceptional move of suing first, so they can set the narrative, choose the venue, etc. The band said the name had not been intended as racist, but that they had had their eyes opened by recent events. Shortly after the announcement, two parties shared an image of a Zoom call and said they were moving forward with positive solutions and common ground. A trademark is for a business name, a band name, and emblem, a slogan. Their music is straight up adult contemporary anyway. July 10, 202012:31 PM. LUKE BRYAN SHARES RESCHEDULED 2021 PROUD TO BE RIGHT HERE TOUR DATES. Both Lady A's filed a joint motion in a Tennessee court on Monday to dismiss dueling lawsuits over the use of the Lady A name. Anita White will go straight to Don Lemon and say the white woke millennial trio and Big Machine are a bunch of hypocritical racists. This band has always struck me as something contrived by the music industry to make money. This whole situation is just all kinds of screwed up and this is what I think: Country Lady A didnt have to change their name in the first place. And of course, to be fired for saying Everyones live matters. (That actually happened to a respected nursing school dean in Massachusetts last week. Triple 8 never addressed that part of the event. As most any civil lawyer will tell you, when trying to settle with a party, the first offer you float is always twice as much as you think the top end of what you might get is. This has nothing to do with PC BS, selfish, entitled and sanctimonious millennials or woke whatever. Lady A is my brand, I've used it . Dee, what Im trying to say is that if the majority of the people who are upset werent even invested in them to begin with, what impact would this have on them from a career aspect besides maybe radio AirPlay? Dee Manning "As a band, we have strived for our music to be a refugeinclusive of all," the band told its fans. July 9, 2020 @ (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images). Anita White asked for $10m to support herself and other black independent artists after the group adopted the name she has used for 20 years. Lady Antebellum says it will now go by the name "Lady A." Here is Merriam-Webster's definition antebellum: : existing before a war. 6. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, 61-year-old Seattle artist Anita White slammed the Grammy-winning group for adopting the new moniker without consulting her first. But if "country" music avoids being banned over the term's link to ideas of untoward nationalism, radio stations will no longer be playing music by hit group Lady Antebellum. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox, A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry. Even though the band are well-off, ten million dollars is ridiculous. The change came duringprotests and civil unrest around the worldsparked by the killing of George Floyd. July 9, 2020 @ Wow because you are really targeting your audience there. She and her team have demanded a $10 million payment, so reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that we need to ask a court to affirm our right to continue to use the name Lady A, a trademark we have held for many years. Antebellum is an umbrella term for elements of culture that existed in Southern states after the American Revolution, but before the Civil War. The Washington in Washington actually has a double meaning in that it also refers to one of the original American settlers in the state, who was black (biracial) himself. Or non-binary people. As for Lady A, formerly Lady Antebellum you are a complete disgrace to bow to this WOKE CRAP. However, a blues singer by the name of Anita White had been using the name Lady A for several decades. July 10, 2020 @ July 9, 2020 @ But its their name, and they should have the freedom to change it if they choose. Its not a left or right problem, its a stupid problem. Complete Disgrace, docweasel July 9, 2020 @ Thats not to say what theyre doing is right or that theres any optical lens through which it would look acceptable in todays times. 8:50 am. The casual Person looking at this and especially the vermin in the media is that a white privileged millennial country trio back by a mega country label is suing a poor black woman. Share to Linkedin. Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood Shutterstock. Internet and social media searches for Lady A, which had readily returned results for her music, were now dominated by references to Lady Antebellum. However good their music is, it was never a good title. I think the threat comes from avoiding the discussion and trying to make everything inoffensive and innocuous instead. Bryan said that Lady A was a "great option" for the band to change their name to, but "now it's tricky. Im not saying TAFKALA isnt within their rights. Until the organization refutes its alliance with Antifa they have zero credibility in my book. 4:37 pm. They move out there to get away from the city and the crime. They should have remained silent, and if anyone came after them over the name (which likely would have never happened), simply explained how they came up with it and left it at that. I know the area. 9:25 am. 1 country ballad What If I Never Get Over You, shared a lengthy apology with fans. Its not a perfect solution, but its addressing the concern. 6:53 am. But extortion is an actual criminal act. So today, we speak up and make a change. White said: It said that we would coexist and that they would use their best efforts to assist me on social media platforms, Amazon, iTunes, all that. And now Im a fan of a lot of different country artists.). But, on the other hand, yes, good . 2023 Billboard Media, LLC. These were catastrophic, and irresponsible moves, both morally and from a publicity standpoint. Make a counter offer for $25,000 and everyone goes off happy. True hypocrites, who do they think theyre fooling? "I can say that for years, everyone in the country music community has really referred to them as Lady A. I dont think country Lady A meant any harm by the name change, but this whole thing just CLEARLY shows they didnt put time and effort into a decision like they say they did. I am in no way defending Lady Antebellum. 6:34 pm. Who is being selfish. And she's super irritated with the band Lady Antebellum. Its questionable if Antebellum was problematic in the first place. They dont want $$$$$$, the R&B singer wants the $$$$$. $5m is nothing, and Im actually worth more than that, regardless of what they think. The negotiating platform is exactly what I thought as I read this. I agree that a deeper discussion of whether that is the case or not is warranted. How about Lady AC? The lesson will be to avoid the whole mess entirely. They were not responding to some fierce backlash about their name when they made the change. Lady Antebellum was trying to do the right thing with the name change.. Charles Kelley, who shares the vocal spotlight with Hillary Scott, says, "The first week was kind of . Ive been on both sides in copyright claims and licensing disputes. As musicians, it reminded us of all the music born in the south that influenced usSouthern Rock, Blues, R&B, Gospel and of course Country., But we are regretful and embarrassed to say that we did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word referring to the period of history before the Civil War, which includes slavery. Despite an effort at reconstruction following the war, America has never truly made amends for the devastating effect of slavery on the nation and those who descended from slaves. I think it would be fitting and well deserved. Its the sign of the times, Its not worth the trouble. His use of the word extortion meets all 4 standards of a defamatory statement (libel or slander). Also on this extortion question: Again, I think its a strong word and one I would not use. Its okay to acknowledge our founding fathers did some really crappy things. Yeah, you can always find a red rose on Twitter with an anime avatar whos Internet Mad because the term wristwatch is ableist or some other 14-year-old Tumblr BS, but come on. Lady Antebellum switched to Lady A in June 2020 in the wake of protests against racism and police violence, citing criticism that the name glorified the slavery-era South. In an appearance on PEOPLE (the TV Show! Army WO Pilot (@Army_WO_Pilot) June 11, 2020, Comfortably _()_/ (@Eyeroll_Shrugs) June 11, 2020, No, THIS is Ludacris. Even though Im not a fan of their music, I believe they are decent human beings who go caught up in a moment, maybe took some bad advice, and now its turned into a huge mess. 10:18 am, I just hope they get so much bad press they go away for good. From Triggers blog post Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and Dave Haywood of Lady A are not racists. The idea they have $10 million dollars just laying around because theyre a mainstream band is ludicrous. The lesson of this story is that if you choose a new band name make sure nobody else is using it first. But the optics are terrible here, especially for the former Lady Antebellum, but really for both Lady As. 1:18 pm. It gets plenty irrational and intolerant but its not necessarily that shallow. ADVERTISEMENT. I write about leadership, politics, inclusion, and social change. 10:20 am, Johnny Bravo We are deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused and for anyone who has felt unsafe, unseen or unvalued. anna tweedy She had been performing under the name for roughly 20 years. I agree that the optics are terrible on this, and realistically they probably werent on anyones radar to be cancelled because of their name. July 9, 2020 @ Bands are going to make these decisions based on their business and branding interests. The pandering is nauseating at this point. July 9, 2020 @ The trio, more likely their management and publicity team, really screwed up, and this whole thing is going to get uglier. 8:31 am. By clicking Accept all you agree that Yahoo and our partners will process your personal information, and use technologies such as cookies, to display personalised ads and content, for ad and content measurement, audience insights, and product development. Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, and Lady A, also known as Anita White, have settled their trademark dispute. As I say explicitly in the article, Lady Antebellum should have checked to make sure there would have been no conflicts by changing to the name Lady A before they did so, and resolved any disputes before making the name public, especially since there was no major pressure to make the change at that time. Realization that Antebellum is undergoing a name change they underwent over a year ago because theyre a mainstream is... 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