Buena Vista Social Club’s name sparks legal feud – Business News
It’s the Case of the Battling Buena Vistas.A lawsuit in Los Angeles Federal Court seeks to strip the hit Broadway musical “The Buena Vista Social Club” of its trademarked rights to the name, The Post has discovered.The swimsuit, filed Thursday by touring company Jesus “Aguaje” Ramos & His Buena Vista Orchestra, was a counter-attack to cease-and-desist warnings by highly effective music company BMG’s label World Circuit, which licenses its “Buena Vista Social Club” trademark to the Broadway manufacturing — and desires the orchestra to drop the similar-sounding title.
The “Buena Vista Social Club” musical on Broadway is predicated on the favored Havanna dance-music type. Matthew Murphy
BMG has managed the trademark since 1999, however the orchestra’s producers declare within the swimsuit the that the company used “fraud” to have it renewed in 2023.
The orchestra’s swimsuit alleges BMG used “misrepresentations” in its trademark renewal software by saying it was for “live [concert] performances” — although the Broadway show is a stage musical primarily based on a e book, or script.
The show has performed to full homes on the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Post critic Johnny Oleksinski praised it as “practically a jumbo jet to Havana” full of “transportive and intoxicating” music.
The Broadway show is enjoying on the Schoenfeld Theatre. @ buenavistamusical / Instgram
The feud, which started final yr, became a legal mess when BMG lawyer Jonathan S. Pink warned the troupe in a March 13 letter that the orchestra’s “continuous use of ‘Buena Vista’ in connection with its musical performances and related marketing is unacceptable.”
Pink wrote that use of the Buena Vista name “by a spinoff band” would trigger “consumer confusion.”
Steven Machat, producer of the orchestra tour, contends that BMG’s trademark is for the name “Buena Vista Social Club” — and never the time period “Buena Vista,” which references a Havana neighborhood in Cuba the place the dance-music type originated.
“They own four words together, but not the two alone,” Machat informed The Post.
Machat’s nonprofit company SSK desires the choose to throw out BMG’s assertion of trademark infringement and is in search of a jury trial for its declare towards BMG.
Machat, who beforehand labored with artists together with Peter Gabriel, Genesis, and Snoop Dogg, stated he’s gone the additional mile to clear up any confusion between his act and the Broadway show.
Last yr, the orchestra sought a compromise by dropping “Social” from its name — however the transfer didn’t fulfill BMG.
Trombonist/singer Jesus “Aguaje” Ramos (seated heart) leads the touring Buena Vista Orchestra. SSK Organization
“I’m very clear that we are not the Buena Vista Social Club,” he stated.
SSK lawyer Michael Machat, Steven’s brother, wrote to BMG, “Buena Vista is a place just as New York is a place. There was a punk band called the New York Dolls. According to your logic, another band from New York is not permitted to call themselves the New York X, because New York is taken.”
The orchestra argues the name “Buena Vista” is often utilized by numerous leisure corporations, together with the Disney studio and a touring company known as the Buena Vista All-Stars.
Pink had no instant touch upon the orchestra’s lawsuit.
The touring orchestra bought out many venues during its US and Canadian tour in 2024 and could have 50 more performances this yr, probably together with a charitable occasion at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Both productions had been impressed by the Grammy-winning 1997 album “The Buena Vista Social Club,” a compilation of Cuban dance music produced by American jazz composer and guitarist Ry Cooder.
