Amazon Sued by NYC Radio Host Over Fictional ‘Love Zone’ Show in Prime Video Series

The longtime big of a Harlem R&B vigor amusement called The Love Zone is suing Amazon implicit claims that the tech elephantine violated his rights by mentioning a fictional amusement of the aforesaid sanction successful an occurrence of the Prime bid Cross.

In a ailment filed successful Manhattan national court, Maurice “The Voice” Watts says Amazon and Paramount Television Studios, which co-produced the show, infringed his trademark rights with the 2024 occurrence of the transgression thriller, successful which viewers perceive a “radio property successful a heavy baritone” accidental “Welcome to The Love Zone.”

Watts, who has hosted his ain “The Love Zone” connected WHCR-90.3FM for years, says the tech elephantine showed a “reckless disregard” for his rights by featuring the sanction successful the Cross episode.

“Defendants’ usage of ‘The Love Zone’ was neither incidental nor fleeting,” attorneys for the big constitute successful the lawsuit, obtained by Billboard. “It functioned arsenic a source‑identifying constituent wrong the communicative satellite to adhd authenticity and taste resonance, trading straight connected plaintiff’s goodwill.”

Watts has hosted the Love Zone for decades astatine WHCR, a Manhattan assemblage presumption owned by the City College of New York that’s known arsenic The Voice of Harlem. The show, airing connected Fridays from 8 p.m. to midnight, features “old schoolhouse soul, classics and R&B” to springiness listeners “a thrust down representation lane.” The presumption itself is not progressive successful Watts’ lawsuit.

Though an unapproved quality of his show’s sanction was apt frustrating for Watts, specified a suit faces agelong likelihood successful court. The usage of trademarks successful “expressive works” similar books and movies is usually allowed nether the First Amendment; marque owners tin lone writer successful uncommon situations that are explicitly misleading to consumers.

Watts says Cross‘s usage of the sanction of his amusement clears that ineligible threshold, arguing that The Love Zone sanction has go “closely associated with Watts’s heavy baritone delivery” during his decades connected the air.

“The people and persona person developed important goodwill and secondary meaning, particularly wrong Black American communities and the broader listening public,” his lawyers write. “Plaintiff has suffered and volition proceed to endure irreparable harm, including nonaccomplishment of power implicit his brand, harm to estimation and goodwill.”

Such lawsuits crook connected whether oregon not consumers are confused, and Watts says the Cross episode has already intelligibly near galore radical perplexed: “Following release, listeners and members of the nationalist contacted plaintiff via phone, text, and email congratulating him connected his ‘Amazon/Paramount deal’ and presumed collaboration with Cross.”

Reps for some Amazon and Paramount did not instantly instrumentality requests for remark connected the lawsuit.