Ken Block sues Gymkhana video co-producer

Ken Block has filed a suit to stop co-producer of first three Gymkhana videos using Gymkhana.com site. The world’s most famous hoon, Ken Block, filed the lawsuit against his former co-producers Mad Media, who co-produced and co-directed the first three of Block-busting viral videos.

The suit claims Mad Media’s site Gymkhana.com is trying to profit from Block’s Gymkhana action despite having nothing to do with it, except “recording of Gymkhana videos”. The site covers rally and drift sports, and car news in general, but does not feature any of the Ken Block footage.

The site carries a disclaimer stating it’s “not affiliated, connected, or associated with, and is not sponsored or approved by Ken Block or DC Shoes." Block is demanding Mad Media stop using the Gymkhana.com domain, transfer its ownership to him, and pay damages and compensation for any money made while using it.

Mad Media’s Joshua Martelli commented in a report on auto website Jalopnik – who broke the story -- that the lawsuit was “completely without merit and we intend to defend it vigorously. Anyone who is familiar with our work can plainly see that it could hardly be described as a recording," he said.

However Block told Jalopnik that the Gymkhana video creative concept, film direction and editing direction were done by him and his DC Shoes and rally team members.

Block owns the trademark Gymkhana, but Martelli counters with the assertion that "gymkhana" is more than a brand, it’s a sport that has been around since the early 1900s. "No one has the right to prevent the public from using the word gymkhana," he said.

Block said he tried to acquire the site from Mad Media in an informal approach, but was "blindsided" by the response. “He essentially told me to go f[] myself, which came as a huge shock to me," Block said, adding that he’d believed he had been on good terms with Mad Media up to that point.

Both sides say they’re in the right, and in this for the long haul.