Hip Hop HoF Museum Issues Final 'Cease and Desist' to NMOHH and Trademark Infringers

Hip Hop HoF Museum Issues Final 'Cease and Desist' to NMOHH and Trademark Infringers

The Real Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards and Hip Hop HoF Museum Founder J.T. Thompson Sets the Record Straight on his 'Credibility and Authenticity' and will release the Run DMC with Jam Master Jay 'Hall of Fame Induction Clip' Today!

NEW YORK, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum Foundation and the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards Television Show have issued a final "Cease and Desist" to the NMOHH and other trademark infringers to stop using their name, likeness, and selling any material with the name Hip Hop and Hall of Fame!

They have now unfortunately put other Hip Hop moguls, and some of HHHOF's friends in a legally liable position, like Russell Simmons, Andre Harrell, Leyla Turkann, and others listed prominently as Board Members in materials! These moguls and individuals know first- hand that J.T. Thompson is the founder and creator of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame and its multimedia brands, and they will be called upon as HHHOF's first eye witnesses, since they have worked with or on certain projects with HHHOF over the years!

Just ask Minister Farrakhan to play the "peace summit" video or audio tape from 1997, after the Notorious B.I.G. incident at his home with Russell Simmons and J.T. Thompson as the HHHOF present! The NMOHH was not even in the picture at this very important juncture of Hip Hop history!

Others listed in these promotional materials include the Grammy Museum and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame representatives, who when reached out to by the HHHOF in the 90's did not come out to support HHHOF's cause for "stopping the violence" and "increasing the peace through education" campaigns in that era's Hip Hop climate! The HHHOF values credibility and authenticity above all, and they will be releasing their classic HHHOF Awards Show clip of the Run DMC with Jam Master Jay "Hall of Fame Induction" on the internet on Tuesday, April 6, 2010!

When the NMOHH was first started in 2006 or so, they were immediately "ceased and desisted" for using the HHHOF moniker in their name. They stopped at that time and called themselves just the NMOHH. Now four years later the NMOHH also call themselves the Hip Hop Hall of Fame. They reached out to J.T. Thompson in November 2009 to see if there were some partnership opportunities, as they promised the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards can have the VH1 Hip Hop Honors Show as their own, with Viacom/MTV's permission, and that HHHOF had to move themselves into the NMOHH facility that would be built in the Bronx, NY!

J.T. Thompson and the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Board of Advisors emphatically said "NO WAY" to surrendering their 18 year quest to folks who have not done their proper homework, as that would be irresponsible. Then the disrespect card was played, and the Hip Hop Hall of Fame stood its ground as the stronger contender with a $10 million halfway to goal commitment to be matched, plus the return of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards TV Show to national television, and with the unveiling of the HHHOF Museum & Entertainment Complex in NYC June 2010!

"This is very unfortunate," stated J.T. Thompson, "as we are a 'neutral Hip Hop body' who is open to all for participation; however, we cannot sit by and allow someone to violate our trademarks and cause Hip Hop and marketplace confusion, dilution, and misuse of our trademark's goodwill and hard work over the years in the name of preservation! The US Laws dictate in these matters that we must be and will be aggressive in protecting our HHHOF trademarks and copyrights!

This is why we find the NMOHH's FAQ more puzzling -- what is posted on their website. It says the following: "We appreciate and applaud the efforts of the few attempts to develop a hip-hop museum in the past, but we believe that there are a few key factors that directly attributed to the failure of those past efforts. None of the past efforts included the acquisition of proper documentation like a 501(c)(3), or it was not in the South Bronx, or that these past attempts have been out of either political, or personal/financial gain, and they all 'quit'!" The NMOHH FAQ is all fiction and not factual!

Here are the facts: on White House stationery dated July 7, 1995 is a thank you signed by then-President Bill Clinton, addressed to J.T. Thompson, CEO of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame. There is a Billboard Magazine article dated November 4, 1995, by Havelock Nelson, stating that J.T. Thompson of Dove Entertainment formed the non-profit Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum Foundation and would produce the HHHOF Awards TV show in 1996! There is a Billboard Magazine dated August 1996, by Havelock Nelson, stating that J.T. Thompson did in fact produce the HHHOF Awards TV show and it would be airing on BET in September '96! There is a Billboard Magazine dated April 19, 2004 after the HHHOF just finished setting up its initial IPO. In it, Carla Hay states J.T. Thompson is set to re-launch the HHHOF Museum in NYC, and that HHHOF has a mini empire with a non-profit arm for the museum, and a for-profit arm for the restaurant, retail store, and concert lounge! It goes on to name all of the other related events that the HHHOF has produced over the years to get to that point! Then here HHHOF is today, poised to open up the museum and produce the HHHOF Award TV show in 2010! The HHHOF has never stopped pushing the limits with out-of-the-box thinking.

Then the NMOHH "crosses the final line" when they announce publicly that they will be producing a "Hall of Hip Hop Awards show". Imagine someone saying that they were going to produce a Hall of Rock Awards Show! Once again not doing their research, the NMOHH did not realize that the HHHOF had already taken legal action against another group for calling themselves "the Halls of Hip Hop Stores"! They settled and changed their names to "H3 and the Hip Hop Soda shops" (H3=Halls of Hip Hop), and they have since gone out of business, not having HHHOF's total concept and name to sustain that business. HHHOF knew at that moment that they were dealing with folks who had not done their due diligence, as it is hard to declare yourself an authority of Hip Hop culture when your FAQ is without factual information as to the validity the HHHOF story to this point.

"The NMOHH proposal in this economy to build a $200 million dollar Hip Hop museum is reckless and irresponsible! As a real estate developer, we could re-do Harlem USA from what it is, to what is was supposed to be when the HHHOF lobbied for empowerment zones in 1992-96, and construct 5 towers, housing, with Harlem beautification, 3,000 new jobs, 500 new housing units, and 25 stores, a mall, and entertainment with community services, with a $3.5 billion economic impact for NYC with that amount," stated J.T. Thompson. HHHOF will announce a similar plan in June 2010, as these are some of the things that make J.T. Thompson reconsider taking up the offer from community leaders to run for Congress later this year, as we are suffering from a "leadership who is bankrupt of new ideas," and HHHOF will address them at its leadership symposium on CSPAN in June 2010!

The Original and Official Hip Hop Hall of Fame was created in 1992 by CEO and Executive Producer of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards TV Show J.T. Thompson, who while working on the L.A. Gang Truce Alliance with godmothers Congresswomen Maxine Waters and Diane Watson and Community Leaders, was moved to create the HHHOF and the Hip Hop TV Network as fundraising programming vehicles to raise money for "Gangs & At-risk Youth Programs" in Los Angeles first then throughout the USA!

However, it has not been an easy ride to the culmination. Later in June 2010 with the unveiling of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum and Entertainment Complex in Manhattan! The media and mogul hyped East-West fictional feud almost cost Mr. Thompson his entire life savings, but it costs the lives of two of his favorite people, Biggie and Tupac! "The 'Hip Hop World' was tainted and stained back then, and we call pre-Biggie and Tupac 'Hip Hop B.C.', and post-Biggie and Tupac 'Hip Hop A.D.'," stated J.T. Thompson. "We took two buildings valued at $1.5 million and put them up for collateral to independently finance the BET syndication and re-broadcast deal in 1994 for the first Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards Show that aired in national syndication and on the BET Cable Network that is now owned by Viacom/MTV.

Throughout the years we have had groups, executives, and Investor/partners make promises of support and later renege as well as just blatantly utilize our brand to make money for themselves without our project coming to fruition!

A major example of this has put MTV and VH1 in a liability position, as they are perpetuating the damage to our HHHOF brand by continuing to publish the articles that appear on their sites claiming that the "First Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards" was in 2002? Similar to the Viacom case against YouTube, you are responsible for what you are reporting, and when the truth is revealed you are to make changes.

This 2002 event listed in fact was the same event that HHHOF executives complained about to BET Cable Networks then (now owned by Viacom/MTV/VH1) without filing any claim or lawsuit, and enabled BET Cable Networks to pull out of this event, as they thought they were dealing with J.T. Thompson whose show was recently on the network. In fact it was imposters, who used HHHOF's name without licensing it for a super-conference and a board game that have since gone out of business, costing HHHOF millions of lost potential revenues at the time. And HHHOF can now ask, why hasn't the HHHOF Awards show been back on BET, and is it one of the "only black run, not owned anymore" networks in the USA?

None of these things would even be mentioned if the NMOHH would simply just stop using the HHHOF name. We will share many of these adventures including the NAACP, Queen Latifah, Raycom, Vibe, Motown TV, UPN, RMD, and Inter-Vision Deals that fell thru, and many more intimate details and contracts in our upcoming 18th Hip Hop Hall of Fame Anniversary DVD with a bonus album being produced by Easy Mo Bee to debut this summer!

We are excited about the year 2010 for the "State of Hip Hop" and we hope to partner with more corporations and community groups to reach the people and communities that have helped Hip Hop history and economics over the years! The Hip Hop Hall of Fame is open to all parties who care about Hip Hop.

You can follow the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards Show, and the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum & Entertainment Complex at HipHopHoF.TV, Facebook.com/hiphophofmuseumcomplex, Myspace.com/hiphophof, or Twitter/hiphophof.

For more information on ticket sales, artist participation, sponsorship & advertising opportunities, or media inquiries, contact Hip Hop TV Networks and the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards representatives, Adrienne Smith or Darren Ashley at 917-418-7971 or leave a message at 212-330-8738. By email is hiphophof@gmail.com!

ABOUT THE OFFICIAL HIP HOP HALL OF FAME AND PRODUCER J.T. THOMPSON

Originally created in 1992, the awards show was the first independently produced Hip Hop Awards Show on the BET Network syndication arm in 1995, and was label mates with the Source Awards. The Creator, J.T. "J-Train" Thompson, is a Brooklyn-born, Queens- and Harlem-raised Hip Hop connoisseur, whose uncle played with Harlem legends Billie Holliday, Louis Armstrong, and Benny Goodman and others, who could not eat, live, or dwell in the places where they played music! J.T. was transplanted to Los Angeles in his early years where he entered the business as a concert promoter and television producer as a guest of former MCA/Universal artists Pebbles, and the R&B Group the Deele, that featured multi-Grammy Award winning artists/producers Babyface, and current Island-Def Jam Head L.A. Ried. While a free agent, professional athlete and businessman, legends Eazy E, Ice Cube, Yo Yo and publicist Lynn Jeter gave J.T. his big break in promotions and productions, as he went on to emerge as a major force in the "Hip Hop Fight the Power Leadership" era of the early 90's, even joining with Sister Souljah.

As one of the main co-founders of the historical L.A. Gang Truce Alliance during the 1992 Riots, J.T. took the lead in empowering community, private, and public economic development partnerships, and helped push for the National Empowerment Zones from Los Angeles to the new Harlem USA projects. His story was highlighted in the movie Redemption starring Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, as J.T. utilized gang members on projects including restoring the Sear's Hollywood. Despite the HHHOF and J.T. producing numerous albums, movies, concerts, step shows, and special events from the Bay Area to Los Angeles and NYC, Hip Hop took a negative turn during the media hyped east-west turmoil and the Hip Hop Hall of Fame suffered in the downturn, only to rise again today with a vengeance to finally complete the NYC HHHOF Museum and Entertainment Complex "Coming in 2010."

Source: Hip Hop TV Network

CONTACT: Darren Ashley or Adrienne Smith, both of Hip Hop TV Network,
+1-917-418-7971

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