LOS ANGELES, CA — Adult entertainment icon Larry Flynt is not about to stand by idly while someone — even a family member — abuses his good name to hawk “inferior products” and “knockoff goods.”That’s the way Flynt characterized the video merchandise being marketed by nephews Dustin and Jimmy Flynt II under the trade name Flynt Media, according to The Associated Press. Larry Flynt filed suit January 5th in U.S. District Court to protect the Flynt name from the two now-persona non grata relatives who worked for his towering Hustler empire for more than a decade before he fired them about a year ago.
“To come into the adult entertainment business and use my name not only confuses people who buy my products, but if they’re not maintaining a certain quality, it could also hurt my name,” Larry Flynt told the Los Angeles Times.
Dustin Flynt fired back immediately, accusing his uncle of throwing his considerable financial weight around in an attempt to stifle legitimate competition out of “inferiority issues.”
“If I can’t use my name to do business, then what kind of society, what kind of world is that?” he asked, adding that lawsuits are “a way for big business and rich people to put a muzzle on the little guy.”
Dustin Flynt also waved a red flag at his uncle by claiming Flynt Media’s most recent video “surpasses anything Hustler’s ever done.”
Larry Flynt said he fired his nephews because they weren’t productive, but he didn’t send them away penniless. He gave them a $100,000 severance package — money they used to establish the business that competes with his head-to-head.
He wants the boys to know he’s not going to abandon them, though. Larry Flynt told the AP he expects he will have to help out his nephews when their company fails.
According to an anonymous source, Larry Flynt’s battle to protect his name may not be cut-and-dried. Although the Flynt name is synonymous with Hustler and to a certain extent with adult entertainment, Larry Flynt never trademarked the family moniker.
He may, however, have service mark rights on the name due to his longevity in the industry and how closely his name is tied to Hustler’s product.
