Don Henley Suit Against Clothing Company Survives Dismissal

Henley v. Duluth Holdings, No. CV 14-7827 DSF (C.D. Cal. Jan. 21, 2015).

Don Henley's lawsuit concerning an advertisements for Henley-style shirts that urged customers to “Don a henley, take it easy,” survives defendant's motion to dismiss.  The defendant apparel company had argued that the promotion was a joke.  The Court found that Defendant has not established that its use of Plaintiff’s name – and the name of one of his band’s most famous songs – in its advertisement was sufficiently transformative on its face that a motion to dismiss should be granted.