Boy George may be at risk of losing ‘trademark for his name’
Boy George is reportedly at risk of ‘losing the trademark to his name’ after his band Culture Club amassed £12million in debt.
The Karma Chameleon hitmaker, real name George O’Dowd, founded the band in 1981 alongside Roy Hay, Mikey Craig, and Jon Moss.
George began using the moniker Boy George and, in the same year, registered the name as a trademark.
However, it has been reported that the singer only trademarked the name until 2024, putting him at risk of losing the rights to his stage name.
Documents (per The Sun) also revealed the trademark for Culture Club expired last year.
It comes after Mispocha Touring – a company run by George and his bandmates Craig and Hay – collapsed in 2023.
The band’s back catalog – including singles such as It’s a Miracle, Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, and Time – are at the centre of a legal battle that could see them sold to a company that specialises in making money from classic tracks, The Sun reports.
The publication said Mispocha owes £1.37m to media finance specialist MEP Capital, and that the band has also accumulated £12m in debts with the majority owed to tour promoter Live Nation.
Failure to repay the MEP Capital debt could see the band’s back catalogue, name, and Boy George’s name taken from them.
A payment plan is in place that sees the musicians pay back £500,000 every six months until December 2027.
In 2023, George was allegedly ‘facing bankruptcy’ after being sued by ex-bandmate and former lover Moss.
The former drummer originally sued for loss of earnings after alleging that he was ‘expelled’ by Culture Club’s manager in September 2018 after 37 years of ‘service’ to them.
Claiming that he was told to ‘take a break’ from the European leg of the band’s 2018 world tour Life, Moss said he missed out on £188,000 in profits.
He later amended the claim to allege that George had attempted to defraud him out of what he was owed after tour funds were released to a company reportedly owned by George.
Hitting back, George branded the fraud allegation a ‘personal attack’ and said it was ‘entirely untrue.’
The band was ordered to pay Culture Club founding member Moss, 67, £1.75m after a High Court battle.
The legal dispute over the group’s profits and the value of Culture Club was resolved a week before the start of the trial that was meant to determine the value of the Culture Club name, the profits made by the band since Jon’s alleged expulsion, and the amount Moss might be entitled to receive.
A court order issued then said that the group had agreed that a judgment should be made in favour of Moss, with his ex-bandmates required to pay him the £1.75m immediately.
Metro.co.uk has contacted representatives for Boy George and Culture Club for comment
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