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Why Is Jelly Roll Being Sued By Pennsylvania Wedding Band Jellyroll? Lawsuit Explored
The band Jellyroll claims two performances of the band were at the White House for President George W. Bush and his family.
Lawyers for Jelly Roll band member Kurt L. Titchenell are requesting that Jelly Roll (born Jason Bradley DeFord) cease using the name in a lawsuit filed in federal court on April 8, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. They claim the group first adopted the moniker around 1980 before obtaining a trademark in 2010 and renewing the paperwork in 2019.
Who got the name first?
In the United States, Jellyroll has allegedly performed at “celebratory and charitable events"—initially in the Delaware Valley and then across the Northeast—"since at least 1980.” The term jelly roll translates to a sponge cake folded up with a sweet filling. It’s also the name of the well-known country music performer and the Pennsylvania wedding band in question that alleges trademark infringement.
Born in 1984, Jelly Roll has disclosed that his mother gave him his stage name when he was a little child. He started putting out music in the early 2000s, but according to the lawsuit, he didn’t start using the stage name until roughly 2010.
Titchenell and his band are mostly concerned with name recognition. “Prior to the defendant’s recent rise in notoriety, a search of the name of Jellyroll on most search engines, particularly Google, returned references to the plaintiff,” the complaint states. “Now, any such search on Google returns multiple references to Defendant, perhaps as many as 18–20 references before any reference to Plaintiff’s entertainment dance band known as Jellyroll can be found,” according to Titchenell’s legal team.
Will Jelly Roll give up his name?
In response, Jelly Roll and his team answered that they “wanted to discuss” the matter, as per the complaint. Titchenell sent a cease-and-desist letter to “various email addresses believed to be associated with” them. “Several conversations ensued, and at one point, the defendant’s counsel inquired whether the defendant really was in competition with the plaintiff,” the attorneys for Titchenell wrote.
The lawsuit draws attention to Jelly Roll’s impending Beautifully Broken Tour, which will visit several cities in the Northeast, including Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, where a large portion of the singer’s business has been done. Legal representatives for Titchenell assert that Jelly Roll’s usage of the brand is “creating confusion in the marketplace as to” which performers will be present at a particular event.
A representative for Jelly Roll did not immediately answer People’s requests for comment. Jelly Roll gained widespread recognition after his Ballads of the Broken album was released in 2021, thanks to his hit songs Need a Favor and Save Me. He has garnered his first four nominations for the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards, in addition to winning three CMT Music Awards and two iHeartRadio Music Awards this year.
In a recent interview, Jelly Roll told People, “I spent my whole life just thinking that what I was doing would never be heard or seen. I nearly gave up on the idea that this would ever be as great as it is right now, and wow, what an amazing experience it is to be in the center of it. I am appreciative.”
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