Joan Jett Sues Retailer Hot Topic

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This is pretty lame but it involves Joan so it has some cool to it.  Remember a million years ago I told you how Hot Topic was going in to the unmentionables business hawking bras and thongs to teenagers who still love Hello Kitty?  Well the ‘Blackheart’ line is the trouble here.

Hot Topic has tanked.  A store that one catered to the hard rocking punk, goth or freak is now selling Bieber and Swift and to walk in there is a joke.  It’s embarrassing really how it has lost its edge in the worse of ways.  To fire up some coin they opted into the undie line cuz sex and teenagers are a combo for cash if ever.  The issue Joan Jett and The Blackhearts.

Joan Jett and Keith Leguna created and patened the name and the corporation Blackheart Records in 2004.  Its theres and now they are suing  Hot Topic Inc., based in City of Industry, Calif., for trademark infringement, dilution, unfair competition, and false advertising in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

A spokeswoman for Hot Topic Inc. released a statement to ABC News saying it “takes the rights of artists very seriously, and has in fact compensated Ms. Jett over many years in keeping with mutually agreed-upon license agreements for the sale of tee shirts featuring her image.”

“This lawsuit is a surprise to us, and we are confident in our rights to use the Blackheart brand name,” Hot Topic said.

Blackheart’s complaint says Hot Topic’s tagline, “Lingerie for Girls Who Rock & Roll,” infringes on the Blackheart brand by invoking the image or persona of Joan Jett, who they say is referred to as “The Queen of Rock N’ Roll” and whose best known recording is “I Love Rock N’ Roll.”

Apparently they both have their panties in a knot- who knows when this will be resolved but more importantly who cares and MOST importantly why the hell is Hot Topic selling Taylor Swift T-shirts??