ADVERTISEMENT The estate of MF DOOM is taking legal action against Chinese e-commerce site Temu, accusing the platform of selling knock-off merchandise featuring the late cult rapper’s iconic image.
Filed in federal court on Monday, the lawsuit comes from Gas Drawls, the company that owns the rights to MF DOOM’s catalogue and intellectual property. The estate claims that Temu “manufactured and sold a myriad of items that are counterfeit or blatant copies of Plaintiff’s artwork, products, trademarks, and intellectual property.”
Gas Drawls go on to call Temu “one of the most unethical companies operating in today’s global marketplace.”
Screenshots shared by the estate show pages of unofficial MF DOOM T-shirts, hats, posters, and other merchandise depicting the rapper and his signature, Gladiator-resembling mask.
According to the suit, the MF DOOM trademarks “have been damaged by Temu’s knowing and systematic marketing and sale of counterfeit versions of the brand’s trademark of products bearing counterfeit and/or confusingly and/or virtually identical trademarks.”
MF DOOM remains one of the most respected and beloved figures in underground hip-hop nearly five years after his death.
Born Daniel Dumile in London and raised in New York, the rapper built a legacy defined by his sharp, witty lyricism and inventive flows over unconventional beat selections.
His groundbreaking albums – including ‘Operation: Doomsday’, ‘Vaudeville Villain’, ‘Mm…Food‘, and the collaborative ‘Madvillainy‘ with producer Madlib – left a profound mark on hip-hop culture.
In October 2020, Dumile was admitted to St James’s University Hospital in Leeds with respiratory problems. He died on 31 October at 49-years-old from angioedema, a severe reaction to recently prescribed blood pressure medication, and had been managing high blood pressure and kidney disease.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, his wife Jasmine was not allowed to visit him until the day he died. His passing remained private for two months, until Jasmine announced it on 31 December 2020, and the cause of death was not publicly revealed until July 2023.
Other legal Temu troubles
Temu’s legal troubles extend beyond the MF DOOM case. Last month, the European Commission announced that the platform is suspected of breaching the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
According to the Commission, Temu fails to properly assess risks arising from illegal products sold on its website, including baby toys and small electronics.
“The Commission has adopted a preliminary decision under the Digital Services Act legislation when it comes to TEMU, where we have announced to that online marketplace that according to us it is in breach of the DSA when it comes to risks on the marketplace relating to the selling and dissemination of illegal products,” Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told Euronews.
“The DSA is one of our tools to protect consumers across Europe. To protect them from what, when it comes to online marketplaces? Illegal products that are sold online. Algorithmic content that is thrown at you and that you don’t even determine if you want to see it or not. When it comes, for example, to advertisement or gamification of certain systems on these online platforms. These are risks that we need to mitigate. To protect our consumers online,” he added.
