Ken Block’s name has become synonymous with drifting and hooning. Not this time though, as the American recently found himself in the middle of a Legal Dispute between his company Gravel Farm Racing and Mad Media, the co-producers and directors of his first three Gymkhana videos.
Block and Gravel Farms Racing filed a lawsuit against Mad Media over the legality of the website Gymkhana.com; the lawsuit states that “by registering and using the domain GYMKHANA.COM, Mad Media breached its contractual obligations to Plaintiffs to refrain from using the knowledge it gained from its contractual relationship with Plaintiffs to misappropriate, interfere with, or profit from opportunities and property in the GYMKHANA brand”.
Joshua Martelli of Mad Media, meanwhile, defended the use of the word Gymkhana.
“The automotive sport of Gymkhana has been around since the early 1900s. No one has the right to prevent the public from using the word gymkhana – especially on a website.” said Martelli.
Ken Block was not so convinced. The WRC driver said that he was forced to take legal action against Mad Media especially after being told to “Go f**k himself” when he approached Martelli about the website.