Luke Combs helping a fan who almost owed him $250,000 for selling unauthorized merchandise
TAMPA, Fla. — Country singer Luke Combs is making amends to a disabled Florida woman who sells tumblers online after she was ordered to pay him $250,000 when she got snared in a crackdown his lawyers launched against companies that sell unauthorized merchandise with his image or name on it.
Combs in an Instagram video posted Wednesday said he told his attorneys to remove Nicol Harness from a lawsuit they filed in an Illinois federal court and that he was sending her $11,000. She had sold on Amazon 18 tumblers she had made with his name and likeness for $20 each, grossing $360.
The singer, who recently topped the country charts with his remake of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” also said he would start selling his own tumbler with the proceeds going to pay Harness’ medical bills — she has heart disease and was recently hospitalized. He also said he would fly Harness and her family to an upcoming concert so he could meet her.
He said his lawyers were only supposed to go after big companies that sell unauthorized goods, not fans who have a little business on the side. Most of the 45 other sellers sued appear to be large operations in Asia, court filings show. Under U.S. copyright law, sellers of unauthorized goods can be hit with stiff penalties and have their assets seized. They can also face criminal charges.
“This is not something that I would ever do. This is not the kind of person I am. I’m not greedy in any way, shape or form. Money is the last thing on my mind. I promise you guys that,” said Combs, a two-time Country Music Association Entertainer
of the Year and threetime Grammy nominee.
Harness told the station that Combs’ lawyers served her the lawsuit by email instead of in person, something the Northern District of Illinois federal court allows. She said the October lawsuit went to her junk mail folder and she never saw it.
When Harness didn’t respond as required within 30 days, the judge found her in default and imposed the $250,000 judgment. She discovered she had been sued when Amazon, obeying the judge’s order, froze the $5,500 she had in her account for possible seizure, meaning she couldn’t pay her bills.