Doo-Wop/R&B group The 5 Royales won a court injunction today (February 7, 1953), over a dispute involving their name.
The 5 Royales were #1 on the charts today with their hit single, “Baby Dont’ Do It.”
But the fellows had to go to court in order to protect their name, since an imitation group was promoting themselves as “The 5 Royales” and pocketing concert proceeds.
The fake “Royals” did a series of theater dates in the South, billed as The 5 Royales.
The Royals even went as far as using the pictures of the actual “5 Royales,” until the lawsuit was filed in 1953.
The injunction was granted by Judge T. Hicks, in the Superior Court at Muscogee County, Georgia.
The “Royals” were barred from using the name “Five Royals” or “5 Royales” and they were prohibited from using pictures of the group on promotional materials.
The 5 Royales sought over $10,000 in damages from The Royals over the incident.
The same year, The 5 Royales cranked out hits like “Dedicated to the One I Love,” “Tell the Truth” and “Think,” which were remade by a variety of artists including James Brown, Ray Charles, The Shirelles and the Mamas and the Papas.
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