Judge Rules Glenn Danzig Has No Right To Revenue From Misfits Merchandise

Glenn Danzig and ex-bandmate The Misfit’s Jerry Only took their beef to federal court after Danzig filed lawsuit against them in April. In the lawsuit, Danzig alleged that The Misfits, specifically Only, made ‘secret’ merchandising deals with several retailers without his consent. Only signed a contract with Hot Topic back in 2000, allowing them to run a line of merchandise with the iconic Misfits skull logo, which Only claims Danzig surrendered his rights to more than two decades ago. U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner sided against Danzig, tossing out the case.

Danzig claimed that The Misfits’ Jerry Only had denied him his percentage of merchandising income based on a contract agreement made between them in 1994, though at that point he had already been out of the band for eleven years. The ridiculous The Misfits line of merchandise at Hot Topic, from bikinis to furry slippers to UGG boots, sparked the lawsuit. Danzig also alleged that Only threatened to withhold licensing rights from any merchandisers who actually did business with Danzig.

In his final verdict, Klausner wrote, “The terms of the provision do not address any obligation regarding trademark registration and negotiations with individual retail merchandisers. Moreover, in reviewing the other provisions contained in the 1994 Agreement, the Court also finds no other terms that govern the parties’ conduct as it pertains to trademarking and licensing.”

It seems that Klausner supports Only’s initial interpretation of the lawsuit as “a sour trap tantrum based on outrageous allegations.”

The judge continued, adding that the involved parties have, “non-exclusive right to conduct merchandising and to exploit other rights relating to the use and exploitation of the name Misfits…and neither [Only] nor [Danzig] has any obligation to account to the other for any revenues derived from the exploitation of merchandising or any other rights.” Essentially, Glenn Danzig will not reap any rewards from the band he left over thirty years ago, no matter how many Misfit logo’ed wallet chains fly off the shelves of Hot Topic.