NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Legal Newsline) — The estate of Patsy Cline is suing a website, claiming copyright infringement against the late singer.
Patsy Cline Enterprises has filed a lawsuit against Winchester, Virginia-based Mark Bayliss, who runs patsycline.com through the entity Visual Link Internet, L.C.
The estate filed the lawsuit on July 7 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville for infringing on the singer’s name, image, and likeness.
According to the lawsuit, Baylis has been operating the website since 1996 in an effort to drive traffic to another one of his personal companies that provides wireless broadband services in Virginia.
The estate is stating that the operation of Bayliss’ website constituted an unauthorized use of Patsy Cline’s name, image, and likeness and infringement of the Patsy Cline Mark.
The estate is now seeking statutory damages up to $100,000 for the unauthorized use related to the use of the singer’s musical endeavors on the website.
Jacob Clabo, with the law firm Shackelford Bowen McKinley and Norton, LLP, is representing the estate.