All-around hoon Ken Block has made a name for himself throughout a lifetime of numerous endeavors ranging from rally cross events, to commercial clothing, etc., his most popular to date being the five installments of the Gymkhana video series, which have given him the status of viral video royalty in the world of YouTube.
Now though, a not so awesome endeavor is about to take place between Ken Block, his company Gravel Farms Racing, LLC., and Mad Media, the co-producers and directors of the first three Gymkhana video installments. A legal battle, to be precise.
On Friday, Block and Gravel Farms Racing, LLC., filed a lawsuit against the former co-producers over the legality of the website Gymkhana.com.
The lawsuit claims legal action by Ken Block against Mad Media over misuse of the Gymkhana brand.
“By registering and using the domain GYMKHANA.COM, Mad Media breached its contractual obligations to Plaintiffs to refrain from using the knowledge it gained from its contractual relationship with Plaintiffs to misappropriate, interfere with, or profit from opportunities and property in the GYMKHANA brand,” stated the lawsuit.
When reached for an interview by Jalopnik, Joshua Martelli of Mad Media went on to defend the use of the word “Gymkhana” and the site.
“The automotive sport of Gymkhana has been around since the early 1900’s…No one has the right to prevent the public from using the word gymkhana to report on, discuss, or promote the sport – especially on a website.”
Ken Block, on the other hand, is not so convinced. He says that being “blindsided” by Mad Media forced him to take legal action and even claims that Martelli, “essentially told me to go f**k myself” when approached about the site.
As of now, both parties are claiming the law is on their side. Block and Mad Media should be in for a lengthy legal battle.
Scroll down to read the full PDF of the lawsuit
By Jeff Perez
GYMKHANA LAWSUIT