Dweezil Zappa Details Proposal To Resolve His Dispute With The Zappa Family Trust

The long-simmering feud and legal battle between guitarist Frank Zappa’s children boiled over again after last week’s announcement from the Zappa Family Trust of a forthcoming Frank Zappa – Back On The Road: The Hologram Tour. When the ZFT revealed plans for the tour, they mentioned the possible participation of Dweezil Zappa which did not sit well with DZ. Dweezil wrote a blog post about his legal battle, the ZFT responded and now Dweezil has shared another blog post detailing a proposal to end the stalemate that his lawyer sent to the ZFT.

The Zappa Family Trust is run by Frank and Gail Zappa’s children Ahmet Zappa and Diva Zappa. Dweezil and his sister Moon Zappa were given smaller portions of the ZFT following Gail’s death and are not involved in the day-to-day operations of the estate. In Dweezil’s first blog post he took particular offense to Ahmet’s claim to Rolling Stone that the ZFT attempts to stop the guitarist from using his own name were “1 million percent false.”

Diva Zappa, on behalf of the ZFT, responded to Dweezil’s blog post with a tweet featuring a legal document submitted on September 25 stating the Zappa Family Trust is not trying to prevent Dweezil from using his given name:

https://twitter.com/divazappa/status/912507358231719936

“In it, they altered their position just slightly for appearances and have attempted to then disingenuously pass it off as having been their position the whole time,” Dweezil claims in a blog post published today. Dweezil’s most recent blog post includes a note the guitarist’s lawyer sent to the ZFT looking to settle the trademark issue and enter into a “coexistence agreement”:

I have reviewed Applicant’s Second Supplemental Response to Opposer’s First Set of Interrogatories dated September 25, 2017 (yesterday), which adds this new statement to your previous response: “The Zappa Family Trust has no issue with Dweezil Zappa using his full name to identify or describe himself as a musician.” We view your newly announced position as an opportunity for Dweezil to once again propose a path to resolution of the opposition action. Dweezil is willing to dismiss the opposition action if the ZFT is willing to enter into a coexistence agreement that provides that ZFT consents to Dweezil’s use and registration of the trademark DWEEZIL ZAPPA in connection with various goods and services, including in the music and entertainment field. Please let me know if your client would like to explore entering into a coexistence agreement and resolving this opposition.

“Instead, their actions speak louder than words, revealing more than a lack of credibility on their part. Their actions demonstrate their motives and what appears to be their true intention: they seek to block me from using my own name in the field of live music and entertainment,” Dweezil added. “Every day that goes by without them entering into a peaceful co-existence trademark agreement with me only further demonstrates their true intentions and erodes their trustworthiness.” Head here to read the full post.

Dweezil continues a tour in celebration of his father next month. Frank Zappa – Back On The Road: The Hologram Tour is slated for 2018.

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