Net Music Countdown: OutKast to Court in January

NEW YORK, NY Thursday Jun.10.2004 /netmusiccountdown.com/ -- OutKast, Arista Records and Rosa Parks are going to court January 10, 2005. Civil-rights icon Parks claims OutKast violated her trademark rights and defamed her with its song "Rosa Parks" (from the 1998 "Aquemini" album). The case was originally heard in federal court, where Parks lost, but part of the lawsuit was reinstated earlier this year by the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. In December, the US Supreme Court refused OutKast's plea to dismiss the case.

The song, which is about the entertainment industry, does not mention Rosa Parks by name except in its title, but the chorus goes, "Ah-ha, hush that fuss. Everybody move to the back of the bus." The 91-year-old Parks wants all references to her removed from future versions of the OutKast record. OutKast feels that the song does not violate Parks' publicity rights and that it is protected by the First Amendment.

Before a trial can take place, however, some details must be ironed out. OutKast's attorneys want to question Parks, but Parks' lawyers so far won't allow it, citing unspecified medical reasons. On July 13, a hearing takes place to determine if Parks must give a deposition in the case. In the meantime, attorneys for Parks filed a star-filled witness list that includes Parks, U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Coretta Scott King, Oprah Winfrey and more.

In December 1955, Parks made history and galvanized the Civil Rights movement when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested for this action. Parks' arrest prompted blacks to boycott the bus system for 381 days, which caused the courts to desegregate public transportation in the United States.

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