Musicians have been cracking down on people making money off of unlicensed merchandise. Big bands like AC/DC and Metallica have taken strong legal measures to make sure people can’t sell bootleg gear like apparel in the parking lots or around concerts.
It’s easy to sell products online on places like Etsy or Amazon, making bootleg merchandise even more prevalent.
After one fan of country star Luke Combs started selling branded tumblers on Amazon, she found herself liable for $250,000 in damages, plus legal fees. The problem? She had only sold 18 tumblers for 20 bucks each, bringing in about $360 in profit.
Combs, to his credit, decided that the seller, Nicol Harness, didn’t deserve to be lumped into the lawsuit, which mostly dealt with larger companies selling unauthorized goods. Combs and his legal team removed her from the lawsuit, and also sent her $11,000 to handle her legal fees from the lawsuit.
Harness reportedly was recently hospitalized for a heart condition, too. Upon hearing this, Combs decided to take her idea of branded tumblers, this time selling authorized branded tumblers on his own store (no doubt with more reach than hers), and will donate the proceeds for her medical bills. She and her family would also get to go to an upcoming concert to meet Combs.
In a response on social media, Combs said that going after a fan doing something like this is “not something that [he] would ever do.” He found out about it after the story was on the news.
“I’m not greedy in any way, shape, or form,” he said in a social media post. “Money is the last thing on my mind. I promise you guys that.”
Lawsuit Response@WFLA pic.twitter.com/sbbohDdljT
— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) December 13, 2023
Harness reportedly found out about the lawsuit after the original message from Combs’s lawyers went to her junk folder. After 30 days, the judge found her in default and handed down the $250,000 fine. Amazon notified her that the $5,500 in her account per the judge’s order, meaning she couldn’t pay bills.
“I didn’t mean any harm to Luke Combs,” Harness said according to CBS. “I quit selling the tumbler. I pulled it down. I just don’t understand.”
“It just makes me sick, honestly, that this would happen, especially at the holidays,” Combs said. “I can’t imagine being in her shoes.”
The same day Combs posted his social media response, he put up a tumbler presale with all proceeds going to Harness.
Tumbler pre-order is live. All proceeds from this product will be donated to Nicol Harness and her family.
Get yours here: https://t.co/01ACOnQvnA pic.twitter.com/3OJSkmYsOc
— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) December 13, 2023
This is not only an example of a big-name artist being a good person and engaging with fans, but also a story about how branded merchandise can do some good. Combs is using something as simple as a branded tumbler sold on his webstore to raise money for a fan in need and make amends in his own way.
It is also, however, a cautionary tale about unauthorized merchandise. Amazon has been working in recent years to remove counterfeit and unlicensed merchandise from its platform as best it can, and it shows that even a single person selling a little over a dozen items for $20 can find themselves mixed up in a lawsuit like this.
In a bit of irony, there’s also a branded onesie on Combs’s store that says “bootlegger in training.” No wonder Combs has sympathy for fans who make unauthorized merchandise, huh?
