LV casino sued over promotion of ‘50s group the Coasters

Tuesday, July 10, 2001 | 10:53 a.m.

A man and companies claiming to own the trademark of the '50s musical group the Coasters sued to stop New York-New York hotel-casino, a Henderson producer and two New York companies from promoting concerts using the Coasters name at the hotel-casino.

The Original Coasters Inc. of Port St. Lucie, Fla., Cornell Gunter's Coasters Inc. of Las Vegas and its president, Charles Duncan, sued New York-New York in U.S. District Court on Monday. Also named are National Artists Corp. of Nevada, which allegedly rented the theater and produced the defendants' shows, and three entities that allegedly provided the performers: CGC Management Corp., CGC Entertainment Corp. and its principal, Larry Marshak.

The suit said the defendants improperly advertised concerts using the tradename of Cornell Gunter, who the suit said was a Coasters member who left the group in the early '60s and began performing in Las Vegas with a group called the Cornell Gunter's Coasters.

Duncan said photos of himself and the original Cornell Gunter's Coasters are allegedly being used to promote the defendants' concerts at the New York-New York's Cabaret Theater for the next two months and tickets are being sold allegedly identifying the original Coasters as one of the performing groups.

Duncan, who said Cornell Gunter's Coasters Inc. is the legitimate successor of the group that performed with Gunter until his "untimely death," said he also licensed from Carl Gardner, a founding member of the Coasters, the rights to perform in Las Vegas and the rest of Nevada using the Cornell Gunter Coasters' tradename.

The defendants could not be reached for comment on the allegations.