While the terms remain undisclosed, AEG and Live Nation have legally settled their Coachella lawsuit over event name branding.
An outdoor event in Coachella, California—produced by the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians tribe on New Year’s Eve—was sued. The event branded Coachella Day One ’22 was deemed problematic by AEG. Allegedly, the event’s name was too similar to that of Coachella’s Valley Music & Arts Festival.
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According to the Goldenvoice subsidiary, the lawsuit was initially filed due to adamant claims that Twenty-Nine Palms' event name directly infringed upon Coachella’s trademark. In addition, lawsuit filings claimed that the tribe had “intentionally traded on the goodwill” of the Coachella Music Festival to allegedly create “consumer confusion and false association.”
As a tribal nation, Twenty-Nine Palms has sovereign immunity from lawsuits—as such, AEG was unable to sue them. However, that didn’t stop the promoters from continuing to work around this. Ultimately, they were able to file a lawsuit to cut ticket sales and deter the tribe’s marketing of the event.
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A temporary restraining order was then filed against Live Nation and Ticketmaster. In December 2021, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner rejected the request to deter buyers from purchasing tickets to the event.
Live Nation, though unsuccessful in their endeavors, tried to get the lawsuit thrown out by deeming the allegations and lawsuits were “a dispute between Goldenvoice and Twenty-Nine Palms.” However, a judge issued a preliminary injunction, arguing that any litigation against Live Nation could proceed freely.
Negotiations officially began on August 9 out of court and ultimately culminated in a settlement, of which the final terms remain under wraps at the time of this writing. “A stipulated Notice of Dismissal of all claims with prejudice will be filed no later than August 19, 2022,” read the court filing.
The tribe’s chairman, Darrell Mike, shared an official statement stating, “We are equally thrilled that our outdoor venue, Coachella Crossroads, will be able to continue operation under its given name. The strong-arming of Goldenvoice and its parent company AEG to take reign over a name of a region and businesses who choose to identify with it is disrespectful to small and large operations, those under their employ, and the indigenous people who live within the valley.”
