The Orginal Telluride Fight

In 2006 a new band was formed and came onto the Nashville music scene. The five young men of the band called TelluRide have played more than 300 shows, including opening for such acts as LeAnn Rimes, Billy Ray Cyrus, Little Big Town, and Lonestar, just to name a few. The band members are Adam Craig, Cain Hall, Ryan Jones, Jimi Hendrix, and Brian Smith,

There is one problem with TelluRide and that problem is the name that the band uses. The name Telluride has been taken for a long time by one of Birmingham Alabama's most well-known and long-lasting bands. Rick Carter co-founded Telluride in 1977 and they hold the federal trademark for the name. The original Telluride have released 3 Albums (vinyl as CDs had not been invented yet) 2 live CDs and a 2 CD compilation of the Vinyl Works. They are listed as musical achievers in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. But now The Original Telluride has to fight for their right to use their name. The name they have gone by since 1977. The new TelluRide has petitioned the government to overturn Carter's trademark saying the band abandoned it but you will soon see that is not true.

Now you would think that all it takes is showing proof that Rick Carter has the federal trademark and then the new band would have to change their name. Nothing in life is ever that simple especially when the little guy is fighting the big guy.

I asked Rick Carter to tell me the proof he showed the courts that he did not abandon the name Telluride?

Rick: We have actively played every year including 2010 as we are playing May 15, 22 and June 19.

With this proof why is it so hard to still get the rights to your own name?

Rick: Since the evidence to uphold my ownership of the Telluride trademark disproved their abandonment issue, they are trying to starve me out financially. This is a low tactic which is a classic case of big company forces little guy to forfeit.

Another thing is that the Nashville TelluRide has their music on iTunes which stops The Original Telluride from being able to put theirs on iTunes under their own name. Just because The Original Telluride is an independent band doesn't make it right for the big music guy to come in and take their name.

I asked Carter how fans can help the band keep their name.

Rick: There are sites that people can sign up as fans which in turn raise our profile. The sites are Take Back Telluride and Birmingham's Original Telluride which are both Facebook pages and the reverbnation Telluride page. The imitators spell it TelluRide. Please post these sites and encourage people to become fans as the case is about to go to trial.

I am a huge fan of the Independent music scene and totally support the artists that have to fight and work their way up into the music scene the hard way. These artists keep going on for many years entertaining their loyal fans and for them to go the legal way and file a federal trademark on their name just to later have to fight to keep it is not right.I hope everyone will join in this fight to help Telluride keep their name and keep the big guy from kicking the little guy again.