Settlement announced in Rosa Parks-OutKast case

Received by Newsfinder from APApr 14, 2005 19:36 Eastern Time * Editors Note Subs 3 grafs, bgng ‘Sony BMG’, for 6th pvs to update withcomment from SONY BMG lawyer; picks up 7th graf pvs bgng, ‘Parkswas … ; moving for general news and entertainment pages. By JIM IRWINAssociated Press WriterDETROIT (AP) _ Rosa Parks and rap duo OutKast have settled a 1999 lawsuit in which lawyers for Parks accused the group of wrongly using the civil rights pioneer’s name in a song title, Parks guardian Dennis Archer said Thursday. Under the settlement, OutKast and co-defendants SONY BMG Music Entertainment, Arista Records LLC and LaFace Records will work with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development to develop educational programs “to enlighten today’s youth about the significant role Rosa Parks played in making America a better place for all races,” Archer said in a statement. Atlanta-based OutKast and other contemporary artists will perform on a tribute CD to be produced by SONY BMG, said Archer, a former Detroit mayor and Michigan Supreme Court justice who was named the 92-year-old Parks’ guardian in October. The parties also will collaborate on an educational television program about Parks’ life and legacy. Archer will host the program, which will be distributed on DVDs to thousands of public schools nationwide, the statement said. The settlement implies no fault by the defendants, Archer said. SONY BMG attorney Joe Beck said Thursday evening that the defendants were pleased with the settlement. “We think it will go a long way towards teaching a new generation about Rosa Parks and her accomplishments, and we appreciate Mrs. Parks’ and her attorneys’ acknowledgment of the First Amendment in protecting artistic freedom,” he said from Los Angeles. Details of the CD and television program “will be worked out in the months ahead,” Beck said. Parks was 42 when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955. Her arrest triggered one of the modern civil rights movement’s earliest landmark events, a 381-day boycott of the bus system organized by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “The sacrifices and work that Mrs. Parks has made during her life to ensure that all people are treated fairly under the law is acknowledged and appreciated by both sides,” said Archer, who served as president of the American Bar Association after leaving the mayor’s office and now chairs the Detroit law firm of Dickinson Wright PLLC. The 1999 lawsuit alleged defamation and trademark infringement because OutKast used Parks’ name without her permission in the song title “Rosa Parks.” The chorus is: “Ah-ha, hush that fuss. Everybody move to the back of the bus.” A judge dismissed OutKast from the suit and Parks’ lawyers filed a second suit in August 2004, naming BMG and two of its units, Arista and LaFace Records. They sought more than $5 billion. After the lawsuit was filed, some of Parks’ relatives began questioning Parks’ well-being and the actions of her caretaker and the lawyers who filed the suit. They claimed Parks _ who has suffered from dementia since at least 2002 _ would not mind the use of her name in the song if she were not mentally impaired. They also said she is probably unaware of the lawsuits. Parks rarely has been seen in public since 2001, when she canceled a meeting with President Bush.