Kleinberg, Kaplan, counsel to YRN LLC, an urban clothing manufacturer and the plaintiff in the New York State Supreme Court action YRN LLC vs. Migos, LLC, is responding to false and misleading press reports based on erroneous court documents filed by hip-hop recording act Migos.
YRN (standing for Yung Rich Nation) is 25% owned by Migos, and YRN acquired from Migos the YRN trademark for apparel and accessories. Nevertheless, the Georgia-based rap trio (from whose first album the name of the company is taken) has begun selling its own “Migos” merchandise, in flagrant violation of its contract. Recent news reports have quoted Migos members as referring to YRN as a “former partner” – in fact the agreement the two sides signed in 2015 remains entirely in force.
Martin D. Sklar, a partner at New York law firm Kleinberg Kaplan, says, “Unfortunately Migos has chosen to compound its outrageous violation of its agreement with YRN with unfounded claims. For the record, Migos is actually a current member of YRN, and not a ‘former partner,’ and continues to fail to cooperate with YRN in promoting the brand as required. YRN has paid Migos every dollar of what Migos is owed and has provided all required statements. Incredibly, Migos, having licensed its name to another company for competing clothing in direct violation of a key clause of YRN’s operating agreement, now claims that YRN had no right to manufacture many of the same items that Migos band members can be seen wearing in various photographs and videos.”
Regarding counterclaims filed by Migos against YRN at the end of October, Mr. Sklar simply says, “These counterclaims are just plain silly.”
YRN was founded by Norton Cher, a co-creator of the Rocawear clothing line made famous by Jay-Z, and Rebecca Chernyavsky. Mr. Cher noted that he and his staff “were supportive of Migos even when plagued by arrests and poor album sales. Once they took off, Migos turned on us.”
Mr. Sklar represented Mr. Cher in the formation of YRN and in its original agreement with Migos. Kleinberg Kaplan litigators Steven Popofsky and Robert Tuchman are representing YRN in its suit against Migos.
