Finnish business man Jari Kuosma has filed a lawsuit against Cash Money Records, demanding over $200,000 in owed royalties in connection with Bryan “Birdman” Williams’ partnership with Lugz, Inc.
Kuosma owns the trademark for the name “Birdman.”
His company, Birdman OY, Inc. – founded in Helsinki in 1999 and currently operating in Omaha, Nebraska – sells wing suits, skydiving apparel and equipment, and street wear inspired by the skydiving lifestyle.
The company’s website says it is “the most well-known skydiving brand and the leading wing suit manufacturer in the world.”
In early 2004, Kuosma granted a nonexclusive license to use the “Birdman” name for Baby’s Lugz footwear line.
In exchange, Kuosma was to receive 35% of the royalties paid to Cash Money for footwear sold.
The license agreement was terminated three years later when Kuosma decided he did not want to extend the terms of the license.
In February 2008, Cash Money Records and Lugz confirmed that the New Orleans-based label earned a total of $522, 835.40 in royalties.
Thus, Kuosma and his company were owed $217, 992.39.
On February 13, 2008 Kuosma and Cash Money settled on a payment arrangement whereby the defendant would receive his royalties in six monthly payments of $36, 332.05.
However, as of the filing of the lawsuit on Friday (May 29), not a single payment has been made.
Kuosma and his attorney’s have requested that the District Court of Douglas County, Nebraska grant him a judgment against Cash Money records in the amount of the owed royalties, “plus interest, costs and fees as allowed by law.”
The Lugz Birdman line has been discontinued for over a year.