The Isley Brothers could be done for good as a music group after reports surfaced about a legal tug-of-war between Rudolph and Ronald.
The Isley Brothers legal battle over trademark – Here’s what we know
As reported by TMZ, Rudolph filed a lawsuit against Ronald over ownership rights to the ‘Isley Brothers’ trademark, claiming his blood brother went behind the family’s back to collect tons of money from royalties earned from the group’s publishing catalogue.
According to court documents, Rudolph accused Ronald of filing a trademark application for the band’s name without informing him and allegedly went against their 50/50 profit split agreement that’s been intact since their late sibling, O’Kelly, who was also part of The Isley Brothers, died in 1986.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was, according to Rudolph, when Ronald was allegedly granted exclusive ownership over the group’s trademark “for use on visual recordings and audiovisual recordings featuring music and animation.”
From what we understand, Ronald’s trademark application was approved in November 2021. This would suggest that the Isley brother may have been raking in millions without splitting 50% with Rudolph.
The matter remains in court with more information expected to surface as the case unravels.
The Isley Brothers are an iconic American music group with a stellar career spanning six decades.
The Isley Brothers were a quartet when the group was first formed in the early 1950s.
However, right before moving to New York from their hometown in Cincinnati, Ohio, Vernon Isley passed away. The group suffered another loss in 1986 when O’Kelly, one of the founding members, died of a heart attack.
Thereafter, the group recruited other members of the Isley family to form a full-house band and went on to dominate the industry with classic albums such as Smooth Sailin’ (1987), Tracks of Life (1992), and among others, the critically acclaimed Eternal (2001).