Jim Cornette Loses Lawsuit Against G-Raver Over “F*ck Jim Cornette” T Shirts

Jim Cornette has lost a preliminary injunction against G-Raver after filing a lawsuit back in December 2019.

Cornette chose to pursue the lawsuit over a ‘f*** Jim Cornette’ t-shirt. While G-Raver’s attorney filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against his client, that motion was denied.

Alexandra J. Roberts, who writers on trademarks and entertainment law, revealed the details of the preliminary injunction in a Twitter thread, stating that “the court says the t-shirts aren’t commerce but speech: “G-Raver sold the shirts…to critique Cornette’s views on deathmatch wrestling through parody; 1a protects this expression…b/c parodies are a valuable means of expression to weaken the ideas the celebrity espouses.”

She added that “on top of that, the shirts don’t create a likelihood of confusion & Cornette’s name may possess the distinctiveness that would make it a trademark. it’s certainly not a famous one capable of dilution. even if it were a mark, defendants’ uses aren’t similar” and that “”even when the use is facially for a commercial or advertising purpose; the relevant exception here is…the shirts are expressive works & the use is through a communications medium.”

According to Roberts, the court also ruled that the shirts are “works “invented by G-Raver’s imagination”; they are transformative.”