This is kind of local news, but it’s so typical “New Orleans.”
The Rex organization is threatening to sue the Krewe of ‘tit Rex (that’s “petit” or “small” in French, colloquialized to “’tit”) for trade name infringement. Rex, the holiest of holy Mardi Gras krewes that parades on Fat Tuesday, wants to protect its copyright.
The Rex organization was created in 1872 and is a private club (along with the other Mardi Gras krewes) that stages the glitzy Mardi Gras parades. ‘Tit Rex is a raucous neighborhood group that puts on a parade of miniature floats built on shoeboxes with satirical themes. If you grew up in New Orleans, at some point you made your own float from a shoebox. Made you feel like a king/rex for a day.
I do understand the Rex Organization’s desire to keep their brand intact—after all, when you proclaim yourself “king for a day,” you rule the city, don’t you? I suppose we’d have serious repercussions if, for example, we had ‘tit Bacchus, ‘tit Endymion, ‘tit Orpheus, ‘tit Zulu—Wow! All those krewes’ merch branding and worldwide reach would potentially go down the toilet, huh? Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill!
I think in order to win a lawsuit, you’d have to prove some sort of confusion between the Grande Rex and ‘tit Rex, and the last time I looked, a few decorated shoeboxes being pulled by a group of drunk revelers in costumes only has one thing in common with the big Rex: the drunk revelers in costumes. Only in New Orleans would this ridiculousness make the daily paper. Don’t you big boys have anything better to worry about? [Full disclosure: editor Alex Rawls is a member of ‘tit Rex.]
After more than 25 years of asking musicians to get their own pay to play at French Quarter Festival, the festival is finally devising a way for musicians. The festival is seeking sponsors to pay the bands that play the festival in April. It has been a long time coming, but the organizers realize that the festival’s music is an integral part of its success, and that requiring bands to solicit their own sponsors to be paid for playing the French Quarter Festival was starting to hold the festival back.
It’s a free event, and there are no ticket sales to support buying the talent as there are for Jazz Fest. In fact, the entire budget for the French Quarter Festival is probably only 10 percent of the Jazz Fest, yet the event continues to grown exponentially. OffBeat encourages the local community to get involved in sponsoring music at French Quarter Fest. If you’re interested in the possibility, get in touch with Georgia Rhody at FQFI: [email protected] or call (504) 522-5730. [Full disclosure: I’m on the board of the French Quarter Festival.]
