Like uncle, like nephews.
Jimmy and Dustin Flynt -- nephews of legendary Hustler founder Larry Flynt embroiled in a legal battle with their uncle over the use of the Flynt name – have launched their oft-delayed website, FlyntNation.com, anyway.
The launch, they said, complies with the guidelines set forth by a judge in the pending lawsuit with Larry Flynt Publications, their uncle’s company.
In December 2008, the brothers -- whose father, Jimmy Flynt I, is Larry Flynt’s brother and longtime business partner -- announced plans to launch Flynt Media Corporation.
Larry Flynt immediately threatened legal action, serving the brothers with a cease-and-desist letter demanding they change the company’s name.
“I hope everything gets back to normal, and we can all go about fulfilling and growing our family’s business,” Jimmy Flynt II told TheWrap.
Both Dustin and Jimmy (pictured above, left to right) left their uncle’s company two years ago. “It was in everybody’s best interest," Flynt II said.
But Larry Flynt Publications president Michael Klein told Adult Video News at the time, “They are trying to free-ride on their uncle’s famous last name, at his expense.”
He continued: “If Dustin and Jimmy entered the adult field as ‘Dustin and Jimmy Flynt’ or ‘Dustin and Jimmy,’ there would be no infringement. But their choice of Flynt Media Corp. as their company name, and their use of Flynt as the name of their video line, infringe trademarks filed with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, and a trademark that has become world-famous over the past 35 years.”
Calls to LFP headquarters in Beverly Hills were not returned.
In January, U.S. District Court Judge A. Howard Matz issued a temporary restraining order against the nephews prohibiting them from using “Flynt” in the production or sale of adult videos. Undeterred, Jimmy and Dustin went ahead with their planned launch at the annual AVN Convention, the big adult industry trade show in Las Vegas.
The same month, the judge issued a preliminary injunction against Flynt Media over use of the Flynt name.
“We won the first two rounds,” Larry Flynt told XBIZ at the time. ” So everything is going our way.”
But the judge said the ruling does not prohibit the brothers from marketing or distributing adult-themed goods “that specifically contain their full and actual names (i.e. ‘Jimmy and Dustin Flynt’) so long as it also contains, in conspicuous bold and all capitalized letters, a disclaimer that states that Larry Flynt is not affiliated with the product or services and does not endorse them.”
That clarification opened the door for the brothers Flynt to launch their company.
A note on FlyntNation’s new homepage reads: “Larry Flynt Is Not Affiliated With This & Does Not Endorse This.”
FlyntNation.com is expected to eventually offer erotic photos and video content, including “Dustin TV,” featuring Dustin Flynt’s video interviews with noted porn starlets.
Jimmy Flynt said that they’ll eventually offer DVD productions, but that those are caught in legal red tape.
