{"id":1009772,"date":"2026-08-19T01:05:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T01:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1009772\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T01:05:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T01:05:24","slug":"cc-music-factory-robert-clivilles-sues-freedom-williams-for-trademark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1009772\/","title":{"rendered":"C+C Music Factory Robert Clivilles Sues Freedom Williams for Trademark"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tRobert Clivill\u00e9s, whose last name is one of the two C\u2019s in the name C+C Music Factory<\/a>, filed a federal lawsuit against the current owner of the C+C Music Factory name, rapper Fredrick \u201cFreedom\u201d Williams, on Friday.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the filing obtained by Rolling Stone, Clivill\u00e9s alleges Williams \u2014 who provided raps for the hits \u201cGonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)\u201d and \u201cThings That Make You Go Hmmm\u2026\u201d \u2014 has committed trademark infringement and fraud with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, misrepresented himself as a founding member of the group, and made money off the group\u2019s name without authorization, among other charges. Clivill\u00e9s is seeking at least $30 million in damages and wants Williams to stop using the trademark.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe name C+C Music Factory stands for Clivill\u00e9s and Cole Music Factory. It refers exclusively to Robert Clivill\u00e9s and David Cole, who created the group in New York City in 1990 and are the sole members of C+C Music Factory,\u201d the suit claims. \u201cDefendant Freedom Williams served exclusively as a featured guest artist on specific recordings. \u2026 \u00a0Mr. Williams was never a founder, co-owner, or a signed group member of C+C Music Factory.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe filing claims Williams had only a production contract with Clivill\u00e9s and Cole and that ended in 1992 but that Williams began using the C+C Music Factory name for himself in 1996, the year after Cole died at age 32. \u201cWilliams has been performing without authorization under the C+C Music Factory name, obtaining fraudulent trademark registrations in a name that refers to two other people, collecting five thousand to ten thousand dollars per unauthorized show worldwide, and most recently releasing commercial recordings and expanding the unauthorized use of the brand to entirely new parties,\u201d the suit alleges.<\/p>\n

\n\tA rep for Williams did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the lawsuit, Clivill\u00e9s and Cole met in the mid Eighties and had worked together under several names until formalizing C+C Music Factory when Clivill\u00e9s wanted to release a song he\u2019d written, \u201cGonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).\u201d \u201cThe foundational creative origin of C+C Music Factory therefore rests with Robert Clivill\u00e9s as its originator, with David Cole joining as co-creator and partner,\u201d it claims. The duo then signed a deal with Sony before even working with contributing artists.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tClivill\u00e9s met Williams around 1987 when the latter was interning at a recording studio and by 1989 they formed a friendship that led to Williams featuring on a Clivill\u00e9s-produced single by a group called Seduction. In 1990, he claims Williams signed a deal with C+C Music Factory to be a \u201cfeatured vocalist for hire, not a member.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe suit claims that there are two types of recording acts, those driven by its members like Earth, Wind and Fire and Boyz II Men and \u201cthe producer-driven featured artist model, exemplified by acts such as Quincy Jones, Giorgio Moroder, and David Guetta, where a primary creative force produces recordings featuring different guest vocalists and performers on a track-by-track basis, with the featured performers identified separately from the core brand.\u201d It cites recent examples like David Guetta \u201cfeaturing Sia,\u201d Calvin Harris with Rihanna, and Ti\u00ebsto with Tate McRae.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2005, the lawsuit alleges Williams registered the trademark \u201cC AND C MUSIC FACTORY\u201d but that it was canceled in 2012. He applied for \u201cC&C MUSIC FACTORY\u201d in 2014 and allegedly misrepresented himself as the sole owner of the trademark. \u201cPlaintiff Clivill\u00e9s created the mark in 1990 and has continuously used it in commerce since that date,\u201d the lawsuit states. \u201cWilliams knew this.\u201d Nevertheless, the Patent and Trademark Office granted Williams the mark in 2015. Clivill\u00e9s began trying to get it back in 2016.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tThe tipping point came this past May when Williams posted a video to the C+C Music Factory Instagram account in which he \u201cmade statements invoking Adolf Hitler, used repeated racial slurs, and directed vulgar and sexually degrading language at members of the public,\u201d while saying that C+C Music Factory would perform at President Trump\u2019s Freedom 250 concert series<\/a>. (Another filing by Clivill\u00e9s seeking an injunction against Williams describes this as \u201cthe toilet video,\u201d since Williams filmed it in his bathroom.) Williams also put out a new song under the name C+C Music Factory, \u201cInto the Future,\u201d in June.<\/p>\n

\n\tClivill\u00e9s wants a jury trial to determine his right to the trademark.<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the \u201ctoilet video,\u201d<\/a> Williams said his decision to perform at the Freedom 250 concert series, which was ultimately scrapped, had nothing to do with politics. \u201cI don\u2019t fuck with Trump,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t give a fuck about Trump. I don\u2019t give a fuck about Trump\u2019s family. I don\u2019t know the n\u2014a. I\u2019m from New York. I know the type of anarchy he creates. But the day I let you motherfuckers tell me what to do is the day I die.\u201d He said he\u2019d vote for Genghis Khan, Hitler, and \u201cmotherfucking Ivan the Terrible before I let you n\u2014as tell me what to motherfucking do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tClivill\u00e9s made a statement at the time saying that Williams was \u201cmisrepresenting C&C Music Factory\u201d and that the group \u201cdoes not participate nor side with any specific political party.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robert Clivill\u00e9s, whose last name is one of the two C\u2019s in the name C+C Music Factory, filed…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1009773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[29],"tags":[404347,11368,69714,171,975,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1009772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-cc-music-factory","tag-controversy","tag-courts-and-crime","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117119492058323783","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1009772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1009773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1009772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1009772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1009772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}