Luke Skyywalker Records
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luke Skyywalker Records was a record label owned and operated by Miami Bass-style rap performer Luther Campbell while he was performing under the stage name "Luke Skyywalker" within the group 2 Live Crew.
The label was an outgrowth of Luke's teen club Pac Jam, and was creatively fueled by his rivalry with another Miami club/record label known as Bass Station.
Campbell and his label were the victors in the legal case Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. (510 US 569 1994) in which his use of the Roy Orbison song Oh, Pretty Woman in a parody was found to be "fair use". When one of the records of 2 Live Crew (As Nasty As They Wanna Be) was banned from being available to minors, Campbell changed his name to Luke Skyywalker and launched "Luke Skyywalker Records" to distribute the record himself.
Campbell's use of the name "Luke Skyywalker" was not considered to be a fair use of the name of the copyrighted Star Wars character Luke Skywalker; his modification of it by adding an additional "y" was not considered to be sufficient to prevent potential confusion between the two in the mind of the general public and he was ordered to cease and desist from using it. Luke Skyywalker Records became Skyywalker Records in 1989, but after 'fair use' case, the label finally changed its name to simply Luke Records.
After Luke Records filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy former employee Joe Weinstein acquired the Skyywalker back catalog and began reissuing it on his Lil Joe Records imprint.
