DIMEBAG DARRELL - 11th Circuit Throws Out Copyright Case From "Dean From Hell" Guitar Designer
April 17, 2020, 4 years ago
The 11th Circuit on Thursday put an end to a copyright dispute between the designer of late Pantera guitarist Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott’s iconic guitar and the manufacturer he claims stole his design, finding the designer waited too long to sue, reports Courthouse News Service.
The Atlanta-based appeals court’s ruling rejecting guitar designer Buddy “Buddy Blaze” Webster’s challenge to a federal judge’s dismissal of his copyright lawsuit against Dean Guitars and its parent company comes after a three-judge panel heard oral arguments in the case in January.
Webster claimed that Dean Guitars violated his copyright to a custom design created for Abbott’s Dean ML guitar in 1985.
The guitar, nicknamed the “Dean From Hell,” features a lightning storm graphic on a blue background. The instrument was used by Abbott in live performances until he was shot and killed by a fan while onstage at a concert in Columbus, Ohio, in December 2004.
Abbott signed a royalty endorsement contract with Dean Guitars shortly before his death. The company has sold reissues of the “Dean From Hell” ever since and has not paid Webster royalties for the use of the design.
A federal judge in Tampa dismissed the lawsuit, finding that Webster’s claims were barred by the three-year statute of limitations.
Read the full story at Courthouse News Service.
