The battle between Jeff Jarrett and Impact Wrestling isn't over.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that Jarrett and Global Force Entertainment LLC are suing Anthem Sports & Entertainment over copyright infringement. The lawsuit was filed Aug. 10 in the United States District Court of Tennessee. A jury trial has been requested.
The documents alleges that Anthem violated state and federal trademark infringes relating to GFE and Jarrett. This includes violation of the Lanham Act, which prohibits false advertising. The document alleges that Anthem "deceived the public into believing that goods and services offered or sold by Defendants are made by, approved by, sponsored by, or affiliated with GFE."
Jarrett and GFE also allege that Anthem participated in “Unfair Competition in Violation of Tennessee Common Law," stating that Anthem's use of trademarks have been "unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent conduct, which is likely to cause, if it has not already, customer confusion in violation of Tennessee common law.”
The production of GFW Amped, the 16-episode series chronically the origin of Global Force Wrestling is also mentioned. Jarrett alleges, “Defendants have violated and, upon information and belief, continue to violate GFE’s exclusive rights in the GFW Amped content and the 16 associated copyrights, including, but not limited to, the right to reproduce, right to prepare and sell derivative works, and right to vend by copying, publishing, distributing, and publicly displaying in the marketplace in this District, and in all marketplaces reached by the Internet, videos that were copied or otherwise derived from the GFW Amped content.”
Jarrett and Anthem signed a non-disclosure agreement on December 9, 2016, merging GFE with Anthem. In January 2017, Jarrett signed a consultant deal with Anthem, at which point he gave the episode of GFW Amped to Anthem. In May 2017, news of the merger became public, with Anthem announcing Jarrett as the Chief Creative Officer of Anthem Wrestling.
In September 2017, Jarrett took a leave of absence to deal with personal issues and was released by Anthem a month later.
Jarrett alleges that his termination by Anthem caused the merger between the two sides to never go through. "Despite Anthem Wrestling’s acknowledgement of GFE’s ownership of all GFW Amped content, Defendants reproduced, distributed, publicly displayed, offered for sale, and sold the GFW Amped content without providing any compensation or royalties to GFE or Mr. Jarrett.
“Upon information and belief, Defendants continue to monetize the GFW Amped content as pay-per-view, premium television, streaming, and other viewing options on a worldwide scale." The lawsuit mentions the Global Wrestling app and DVDs sold through Impact's website.
The lawsuit claims that Anthem is using GFW Amped content, GFE's trademarks and Jeff Jarrett's name and image without license. The lawsuit claims that Jarrett and GFE have suffered "irreparable harm and loss of goodwill."
An award of punitive and/or treble damages for at least three times the amount of Anthem's profits or GFE’s damages (which is greater) and an injunction preventing Anthem from using/monetizing GFW Amped content is sought by Jarrett and GFE. Jarrett and GFE are also asking for Anthem to delete any GFW content, except for master copies, which would be returned to Jarrett.
The injunction would also prevent Anthem from using the Global Force Wrestling and GFW logo, or anything similar. That includes the Global Wrestling Network. Meaning, if awarded, the GW Network would be suspended and relaunched under a different name.
