The rights to the Jefferson Airplane/Starship
name have once again stirred controversy. Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick
and former band manager Bill Thompson are suing Jefferson Airplane co-founder Paul
Kantner for “illegally exploiting the Starship name in concerts and promotional
contracts.” According to the suit, Kantner has violated trademark rights agreed
upon in an $80,000 legal settlement he signed in 1985.
Since Jefferson Airplane
split in 1974, the group’s former members have toured in a variety of rival
configurations. In the 1970s, guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady devoted
their full attention to the blues-based Hot Tuna, while Kantner and Slick
formed the more pop-rock oriented Jefferson Starship. In 1984 the duo split
once again, with Slick forming Starship. In exchange for a reported $80,000,
Kantner allegedly agreed never to perform as Jefferson Starship and never to
use the names "Jefferson'' or "Airplane'' without consent from Slick,
the majority shareholder in Jefferson Starship Inc. Since the early-1990s,
Kantner has performed with former Jefferson Airplane vocalist Marty Balin as Paul
Kantner's Jefferson Starship and Paul Kantner's Starship; the duo’s 2000 tour,
which included the subheading “presents Jefferson Airplane’s Volunteers”, brought on a another
lawsuit and an injunction from his former bandmates camp.
The recent lawsuit stems from
a deal Kantner inked in January to let Microsoft use the Starship name to
promote a new computer product, which Thompson says would cause Jefferson Starship
Inc. to lose more than $750,000. Kantner told the San Francisco Chronicle he doubts Slick supports the suit, although
she's listed as a plaintiff and former manager Thompson said she was 100
percent behind it. "Thompson's been suing people for years and usually
he's on the losing end,'' Kantner told the San
Francisco Chronicle last week. "This time the whole pack of cards is
going to be coming down.''
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