Rudolph Isley Sues Brother Ronald, Fighting Over Rights To “The Isley Brothers” Trademark

American singer-songwriter, Rudolph Isley has declared a legal war against his brother, Ronald Isley. The founding member of “The Isley Brothers” filed a lawsuit over the rights to the musical group’s trademark, accusing his younger brother, Ronald of going behind his back and cutting him out of a ton of money. Here’s all you need to know about this legal war between two musicians.

Rudolph Isley Files Trademark Lawsuit…

The brothers known for making legendary music together, have now entered a legal battle. Rudolph Isley (83), one of the founding members of “The Isley Brothers” filed a lawsuit against his younger brother, Ronald Isley over the rights to the musical group’s trademark. The lawsuit alleges that Rudolph’s younger brother went behind his back and cut him out of a ton of money.

Per the new lawsuit, the “Shout” artist has sued Ronald over the rights to “The Isley Brothers” trademark. He alleges that his younger brother applied and got approval for the trademark in his own name and kept all the profits by himself.

Rudolph Isley mentioned in the legal documents that the brothers were supposed to split all the profits from the band 50/50, claiming they’ve each had “50% ownership in the band” since their brother, O’Kelly’s death in 1986. However, Rudolph alleges that Ronald went rogue and kept everything to himself.

The lawsuit also claims that Ronald Isley applied for and was granted the exclusive rights to “The Isley Brothers” for use on “visual recordings and audiovisual recordings featuring music and animation” back in August. But again, he needs Rudolph’s approval to cut such a deal. It is also mentioned in the lawsuit that Ronald applied for a trademark to put his name way back in November 2021, but they previously split all profits on some large transactions, including a multi-million dollar publishing deal. However, he wants the judge to arrange an accounting to find out how much money Ronald has earned since the change.Apart from this, Rudplph has also prayed for the court to step in and declared that the musical group’s original trademark is jointly owned by the two brothers. Therefore, Ronald is bound to give back half the money he’s since made in the name of the band’s goodwill.

The Isley Brother’s Legacy

Everything was bright and beautiful in the 50s when Rudolph and Ronald started “The Isley Brothers” alongside their brother, O’Kelly. With a career spanning over six decades, the group has enjoyed one of the “longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music.

“The Isley Brother” is known for hits like “Shout”, “Twist and Shout”, “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)”, and Grammy Award-winning “It’s Your Thing”. In 1973, the vocal trio transitioned into a complete band after the musical group added younger brothers, Ernie Isley (lead guitar and drums) and Marvin Isley (bass guitar) and Rudolph’s brother-in-law Chris Jasper (keyboards, synthesizers).

For the next decade, the band recorded a series of top-selling albums like “Between the Sheets”, “3+3” and “The Heat Is On”, the latter peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. As for the present lawsuit, a representative for Ronald could not be reached.