Lawyers for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival are attempting to block Washington, D.C., organization Moechella from trademarking its name. Justin "Yaddiya" Johnson, Moechella's founder, recently began to speak out against Coachella over the trademark battle.
According to Fox 5 news, the controversy focuses on the use of the trademark, not whether the group can continue to use the name Moechella, because the name can legally be used with or without a trademark.
Coachella filed its opposition last month in the wake of a shooting that killed a teenager following Moechella, Fox 5 news reported. Despite the violence, Yaddiya remained firm in his stance that Moechella has always been about peaceful protest and expressed interest finding a way for the two organizations to work together.
“For three years, we have cultivated a space to celebrate the native culture in D.C. by bringing together local artists and highlighting the city’s creative forces," Yaddiya said. "We are willing to work with Coachella to ensure Moechella stays alive and what that possibility could look like, but to destroy the name entirely is a clear attack on Black D.C. culture."
"An established organization such as Coachella would attack and hinder the growth we’ve made as a community festival,” he said.
According to the Washington City Paper, Moechella started as a musical protest when residents of a new luxury apartment in Washington succeeded in temporarily disabling speakers playing go-go music outside of a MetroPCS store. Every night, neighborhood residents would gather for musical protests that eventually became embedded in local culture. Yaddiya told the Washington City Paper the name Moechella developed naturally through a combination of local slang, "moe," and a play on Coachella.
Yaddiya also expressed hope that Coachella will want to partner with them under Coachella's new division, Goldenvoice BLACK. However, he wasn't optimistic. "It didn't seem like they had much interest in working together. It just seemed like they wanted to tell us to stop using it and were not really open to understanding what our mission is and how they could help," he said to the Washington City Paper.