Robert Clivillés, co-founder of the US dance group C+C Music Factory, has filed a $30 million federal lawsuit against rapper Freedom Williams and indie label Big Mac Entertainment over control of the group’s name. The suit, filed Friday, Aug. 14, includes claims of trademark infringement, fraud and defamation.
Clivillés co-founded C+C Music Factory with David Cole in 1990. Williams appeared as a featured rapper on several of the group’s biggest singles, including the 1991 chart-topper “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now),” as well as “Here We Go” and “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm,” which reached No. 3 and No. 4 on the US singles chart that year.
Trademark ownership dispute
Williams now performs solo under the C+C name, which he has legally owned since registering it as a trademark in 2005. Clivillés first petitioned the US federal trademark tribunal to cancel that registration in 2016, but the case was dismissed after his then-lawyer missed a deadline. He filed the new federal lawsuit pro se, meaning without an attorney.
Clivillés alleges he became the sole owner of the C+C name after Cole died in 1995. He claims Williams fraudulently obtained the trademark by falsely stating on application paperwork that the name belonged to him.
“These statements were materially false,” Clivillés writes in the complaint. “Williams knew at the time of filing that Plaintiff Clivillés had created the mark in 1990 and had continuously used it in commerce.”
Clivillés argues that C+C, which stands for Clivillés and Cole, was always a creative project controlled by the two co-founders. He describes Williams’ role as a “subordinate contributor” as a featured artist, not part of the group’s “core brand.” He also cites a “producer-driven model” in the music industry, pointing to modern hits such as David Guetta’s “Titanium” featuring Sia and Calvin Harris’ “This Is What You Came For” featuring Rihanna.
“In every one of those cases, no featured artist has ever claimed ownership of the producer’s brand by virtue of appearing on a single or album,” Clivillés writes. “The featured artist credit has always meant exactly one thing in the music industry: a guest performer on that particular recording. It has never conveyed membership, ownership or any legal right in the primary brand.”
New release and video claims
Clivillés alleges that Williams has unfairly profited from the C+C intellectual property by collecting performance fees since the late 1990s. He says the alleged wrongdoing escalated with the June release of “Into the Future,” a new song issued under the C+C name via Big Mac Entertainment.
The lawsuit also takes issue with a seven-minute video Williams posted to the official C+C Instagram account in May. The clip, filmed while Williams was sitting on a toilet, focused on his inclusion in the lineup for President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair concert.
“[The video], broadcast globally under the C+C Music Factory brand, contained statements invoking Adolf Hitler, racial slurs and sexually degrading language that were false, defamatory and injurious to the reputation of the C+C Music Factory brand and to Plaintiff personally,” the lawsuit states.
Relief sought and response
In addition to financial damages, Clivillés asks a judge to:
- cancel Williams’ ownership of the C+C trademark
- order Williams to stop using the name
- remove “Into the Future” from streaming platforms
Williams’ attorney, Charlie Schmitt, said Thursday, Aug. 18, that the claims are meritless. Schmitt said Williams is the legal owner of the C+C trademark and that the entire case is barred by the dismissal of Clivillés’ prior trademark challenge.
“Whether he chooses to believe it or not, generally courts view a dismissal with prejudice as a full adjudication, and you don’t get a second bite at the apple,” Schmitt said. “He’s clearly angry, but I don’t think there’s any merit to the lawsuit.”
A representative for Big Mac Entertainment did not immediately return a request for comment.
