SweetWater Embroiled in Logo Lawsuit with Artist
Atlanta-based SweetWater Brewing has filed a lawsuit against an artist who claims he is owed $31 million for the use of the brewery’s rainbow trout logos, Law360 reported.
The brewery filed the civil action lawsuit Tuesday, asking for a declaratory judgment to state that SweetWater is not infringing on the copyrights of its logo, designed by artist Ray “Scott” Fuss – a protective legal move to “finalize the controversy between the parties, offer them relief from uncertainty and avoid the potential for inconsistent rulings in the case,” according to the filing.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs – SweetWater, it’s CEO and founder Frederick Bensch, its former parent company Aphria, and current parent company Tilray (which merged with Aphria) – detail how Fuss was paid $500 in 1996 to draw logo options for the then-new brewery. In that process, Fuss drew a rainbow trout leaping out of the water, and the image of a trout behind a banner – both images that were used for SweetWater packaging and tap handles, once the company began brewing in 1997.
Referred to in the civil suit as “the Works,” the artwork was used extensively throughout 1996 to 2020, without any concerns raised by Fuss, according to the plaintiffs. However, five days after SweetWater was acquired by Aphria in December 2020, an attorney for Fuss contacted SweetWater to emphasize that any potential buyer of the brewery should note that The Work was owned by Fuss.
The two parties exchanged back-and-forths between January and May 2021, in which SweetWater repeatedly denied that Fuss had any copyright claim over the artwork. On May 18, two weeks after it was announced that Aphria had merged with Tilray, the world’s largest global cannabis company, Fuss sent a cease-and-desist letter requesting SweetWater stop using the Works. After further refusals by the brewery, Fuss sent yet another letter requesting a $31 million payment from Bensch and return of all “Fuss intellectual property.”
SweetWater claims is has not infringed and do not infringe any copyrights in the Works because their use has always been either as owner of the Works or under an irrevocable implied license,” and requested an order “declaring that their current, future and past use of the Works does not infringe any rights [Fuss] may have,” as the plaintiffs “may be damaged in the absence of such a declaration.”
“This trout drawing is not a Rockwell or a Monet, but a Ray ‘Scott’ Fuss original, drawn in 1996 for SweetWater, a brewery that had yet to produce a single bottle of beer,” the plaintiffs added.
Lion’s Deal for Bell’s Brewery Closes; Larry Bell Officially Retires
Lion Little World Beverages’ acquisition of Bell’s Brewery officially closed December 31.
The transaction was the biggest craft brewery deal of the year, adding the Kalamazoo craft brewery to a portfolio that already included New Belgium Brewing Company.
Also at the close of the year, Bell’s founder Larry Bell officially retired after 38 years. The company posted a tribute to Bell on its social media pages.
“I recognize the shock many of you may still be feeling at the news of Larry’s decision to retire and sell his company,” Carrie Yunker, Bell’s EVP, wrote in a Detroit Free Press op-ed Friday. “But change is also inevitable. Constant evolution made us the brewery we are today, and fuels the world-class beer you know and love. The challenge now is embracing that change while staying true to the bedrock reasons why Bell’s is so special: our core values, our one-of-a-kind culture, and our incredible community.
“I see this new chapter as an opportunity to demonstrate that craft pioneers are best equipped to lead our industry into the modern era – by changing those things that must evolve, while protecting the parts that make us true originals,” she continued. “Together, [New Belgium CEO Steve Fechheimer] and I will work to maintain Bell’s’ world-class beer and brewing traditions, as well as our extraordinary relationships and love for the people who helped us get here.”
Shmaltz Brewing Agrees to Offer In Compromise with TTB
Shmaltz Brewing Company has agreed to pay a $200,000 offer in compromise (OIC) to the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) for several alleged violations, including failure to pay federal excise taxes in a timely manner, not maintaining sufficient proof of export, failure to file semi-monthly tax returns, and failing to file monthly brewery reports of operations.
The TTB said the alleged violations amounted to $323,714.54 and occurred between October 1, 2016, through June 30, 2019, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Yonkers, New York — the address of Captain Lawrence Brewing Company, where Shmaltz had beer producing its offerings.
Shmaltz has made a $20,000 down payment, with the remaining balance to be paid under the following terms:
- $1,000 per month for 12 months, starting April 1, 2022;
- $1,250 per month for 48 months, starting April 1, 2023;
- $12,000 in lump sum payments on April 1 of 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027;
- $48,000 in a final lump sum payment on April 1, 2027.
The offer in compromise was accepted on December 7.
After 25 years in business, Shmaltz founder Jeremy Cowan discontinued the Jewish craft beer brand last year in order to focus on his consulting practice, the 518 Craft tasting room, and the Alphabet City Brewing Company brand.
PE Firm Orkila Capital Makes Additional Investment in Mikkeller
New York-based private equity firm Orkila Capital has invested $6.1 million in Copenhagen-based Mikkeller, increasing its ownership stake to anywhere between 33% and nearly 50%, according to Good Beer Hunting.
The investment adds to the $15.2 million Orkila invested in the company in 2020. Founder Mikkel Borg Bjergsø maintains his ownership stake in the business.
Mikkeller reported a DKK 19,900 thousand (more than $3 million USD) net income loss in 2020, which the company said in a 2020 audit was “primarily a result of COVID-19 related restrictions, lockdown and general uncertainty across the globe heavily impacting [its] retail sales as well as wholesale to on-premise bars, restaurants, etc.”
Mikkeller was also named several times over the spring and summer of 2021 in harassment and discrimination claims, many gender-based. The claims led to more than 50 of the 112 breweries signed up to attend the Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen (MBCC) festival to withdraw from the event, in a movement sparked by Women of the Bevolution, an advocacy group for women in the alcohol industry.
Black Shirt Brewing Now Under New Ownership
Denver, Colorado-based Black Shirt Brewing was sold last month to Jimmy and Karen Dodson.
The couple took over ownership from Chad and Carissa Miller, who co-founded the company with Chad’s brother Branden Miller in 2012. In 2018, the co-founders stepped away from day-to-day management, and Chad and Carissa moved out of central Denver, reported Westword. At the time, David Sakolsky was hired as head brewer and tasked with taking over daily operations.
Having previously lived in the Denver area, the Dodsons have been interested in getting into the beer business for more than a decade, but plans were put on hold when they temporarily relocated to Florida, according to a press release.
“We couldn’t be more excited about the Black Shirt Brewing story, the incredible team they have, the amazing beer and pizza and of course to meet all of the great customers that Chad and Carissa have entrusted us to continue to take care of,” the Dodsons said in the release. “We fell in love with Black Shirt and the team over the past four months and are really excited to bring music back, to revamp the outside areas, to add more TVs for sports and to expand on the beers we are brewing.”
The Dodsons said they plan to bring back some of the brewery’s hoppy red ales that were its signature in its early years, as well as more regularly produce other flagship beers. Additionally, they plan to distribute Black Shirt beers outside the brewery again – something that was stopped during the operational changes in 2018.
Financial terms of the brewery sale were not disclosed.