Coachella Sues Afrochella For Copyright Infringement 

The event in Accra allegedly made a “fraudulent attempt” to trademark the term, according to Coachella.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Ghanaian music festival Afrochella is currently facing a lawsuit from California’s Coachella for trademark violation.

Both Coachella and Goldenvoice, the festival’s organizer, filed a lawsuit against the Ghanaian music event on October 5 claiming that Afrochella is “intentionally” using the event’s trademark name.

In this case, Coachella Valley Music and Arts made claims, “[Afrochella] is intentionally trading on the goodwill of [Coachella and Goldenvoice’s] well-known COACHELLA and CHELLA festivals and trademarks,”

By “actively promoting music events in the United States and in Ghana using the confusingly similar mark ‘AFROCHELLA’ and by fraudulently attempting to register Plaintiffs’ actual trademarks as their own.” according to the lawsuit, Afrochella is violating the law.

In order to avoid confusion, safeguard the brand, and prevent the accused from continuing to use the name in violation of trademark laws, the action was brought.

Afrochella, a festival honoring Afrobeat music that debuted in 2017, will have its next installment from December 28 to 29 at El Wak Stadium in Accra, Ghana. This year’s lineup included Stonebwoy, Ayra Starr, and Burna Boy.

Coachella has filed a lawsuit before for infringement on its trademark. The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians organized and sponsored the Coachella Day One 22 New Year’s Eve celebration, for which the festival and Goldenvoice launched a similar lawsuit against the entertainment business Live Nation in 2021.

The complaint was later resolved in August of last year. It had also alleged that the occasion was  “intentionally trading on the goodwill” of the significant festival.

Regarding continuing legal disputes, neither Coachella nor Afrochella has spoken or spoken out in the media.