British Court: “Diddy Ain’t Diddy Here”

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno

      This week a British court ruled that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs breached an agreement with a London-based producer that he would not use ‘Diddy’ while he’s in Britain or on any products he sells in Britain. Earlier this year producer Richard ‘Diddy’ Dearlove, who owns the ‘Diddy’ name in Britain, filed a lawsuit against Combs claiming that he breached a 2006 agreement where he wouldn’t use the ‘Diddy’ name in Britain by using the name on MySpace and YouTube, which Brits access internationally.

      The British judge didn’t demand Combs to change his name or stop using MySpace or YouTube, however, but he did rule that Combs advertised himself as ‘Diddy’ in the song “The Future” from his Press Play album, which violated the agreement. Combs agreed to perform a different version of the song when he is in Britain.

      As far as the whole MySpace and YouTube situation, it will go to a High Court in October unless the two sides can come to some sort of new agreement. In July 2006, Combs paid Dearlove $20,000 for damages for misappropriation of the name and wrote an agreement for its use.