John Summit Says He’s “Getting Sued” For “Off The Grid” Trademark

Earlier this week, DJ and producer John Summit shared a legal predicament with fans–he’s allegedly received threats of being sued for trademark infringement by Organizers of Off The Grid Campout, a Southern California music festival. 

On the latest controversy, John Summit wrote, “getting sued for trademark over my ‘off the grid’ label name by a small promoter even tho it’s a common phrase and i built up this brand 100% myself.. fucking sucks when ppl want to screw u over but it’s looking like i’m gonna need to rebrand guys :/” John Summit launched his label and event series, Off The Grid sometime last year. 

In a follow-up, he continued, “i REFUSE to get threatened for 7+ figures over a LABEL NAME when the entire worth of OFF THE GRID has been built thru people: my team, the artists, and the incredible community we’ve built… in the end the name means nothing, the people is what matters and we ain’t goin nowhere.” To end the thread, he replied with a link to Off The Grid Campout’s Instagram.

When attempting to visit the event’s Instagram page, we discovered it was set to “private.” It appears their Facebook page has been deactivated, as we were met with a broken link when attempting to open it. The thread was filled with support from John Summit’s fans. One person replied, “That sucks when people do this, they filed on 4/14/22 for the trademark and you launched on 3/18/22.”

The festival’s dates for 2023 are October 20-23 and the promoter is a group called True Entertainment. Mikey Made Cromie of True Entertainment made a post in response to John Summit’s Twitter post. He said, “First off, there never was a lawsuit or a demand for seven figures… We attempted to contact his team for more than a year. They refused to reply so our attorneys sent a cease and desist.” 

He also added, “His community is attempting to bully me and already has one of my account taken down. With too many hateful message to count.” Read Mikey’s full statement below:

We were unable to locate any court documents confirming a lawsuit was filed. 

Ashley

I’ve been a part of the dance music scene for nearly a decade and with Exron for more than half of that time. My first event was Diplo’s Mad Decent but these days you’ll find me at Club Space or the Brooklyn Mirage. Some of my top artists are G Jones, Tipper, Of The Trees, and CharlestheFirst. My favorite genres are techno, experimental bass, and ambient but I’ll get down to anything with a beat!

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