Crush Entertainment Wins in Trademark Settlement Against WCP

It’s a good day for Crush Entertainment. Owner of popular ethnic niche affiliate program CashLikeWhoa.com and its flagship site AssLikeWhoa.com, Crush has triumphed in an out-of-court trademark infringement settlement against West Coast Productions.

The settlement was filed earlier this year after Crush alleged that the title of WCP’s Azz Like Whoa DVD and video line was too close to that of Crush’s Ass Like Whoa. Crush noted that WCP’s line might mislead the public into thinking that the Azz series was somehow produced by Crush.

While WCP did not admit to any wrongdoing, the company did agree to change the name of its series. Meanwhile, they were ordered to pay Crush Entertainment an undisclosed amount in damages as well as all legal fees Crush incurred as a result of the suit, stop production of the Azz Like Whoa line, and pay for a complete recall of all copies of the title that have been released in retail stores and online. WCP also agreed to never again use the title.

“I think it’s a great victory, not only for Crush Entertainment and Ass Like Whoa, but it’s a great victory for online companies, and it’s also a victory for the smaller companies that find themselves going up against much larger companies,” Crush Entertainment’s director of legal affairs T. Victor Stevens tells AVNOnline.com. “I think this is a situation where a lot of people may have backed down.”

Though Stevens did not want to speculate on whether WCP intentionally “borrowed” the name to adapt it, he did offer this: “We’re the standard. We’re all over the Internet. Anyone familiar with the ethnic niche would have to be familiar with the Ass Like Whoa title.”

Crush was represented in its settlement effort by trademark attorney Holly Pranger of the Pranger Law Group, who recently helped three-time AVN performer of the year Lexington Steele win the rights to the online domain using his name. In a press release issued by Crush this week, Pranger said, “The trademark Ass Like Whoa is distinctive n the industry, and Crush Entertainment is smart to protect its valuable intellectual property asset. The adult entertainment industry is built almost entirely on trademarks, performer names, and copyrighted material, all of which may be protected under federal and state laws, but I am still shocked by the amount of infringement that is tolerated.”

Indeed, even as the adult entertainment industry gains notable strides in maintaining its integrity with increased mainstream exposure, there is still a stigma attached to adult products that sometimes makes it more difficult for those responsible for the creation of the products to fight to make sure they retain credit of them. “This is very important for the industry,” Stevens says. “What people have to realize is that this is a business, whether we are selling lemonade or tires or televisions or whatever. Our products just happen to be adult products.

“We never confuse the fact that this is a business, and the Internet is our online marketplace,” he continues. “I think people get too caught up in what the product is. But I think that [Crush’s win] is a message for all companies to protect your intellectual property and to not let yourself be bullied or bulldozed by anybody.”

Stevens adds that the recall for the Azz Like Whoa title is ongoing, and that anybody still selling the title should contact WCP immediately so that they can return the product and get reimbursed