Kid Rock wins a round in sex-tape fight

Judge rules that preview clip can't be posted on the Web

Terry Renna / AP

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updated 10:18 a.m. ET Feb. 22, 2006

DETROIT - Kid Rock has won an initial victory in his attempt to stop a California company from releasing an explicit sex video featuring the rap-rocker, former Creed singer Scott Stapp and four women.

U.S. District Court Judge John Feikens signed a temporary order that stops David Joseph and his World Wide Red Light District company from posting a preview clip of the video on its Web sites.

On Tuesday, Kid Rock’s lawyers sued Red Light, which made headlines in 2004 by distributing the Paris Hilton sex video, accusing the firm of violating Kid Rock’s trademark and privacy rights. The lawsuit seeks a permanent court order halting sale or distribution of the video.

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“We don’t deny the authenticity of the tape,” Kid Rock’s lawyer, William Horton, told the Detroit Free Press. “But they’re using this without his permission to drive the sales of their other products.”

“Even rock stars are entitled to privacy,” said co-counsel Michael Novak.

The temporary order covers only a 40-second preview. The order remains in effect until a court hearing Friday, even though the company removed it from the Internet last week after receiving a cease-and-desist order from Stapp’s lawyers.

Red Light lawyer Ray Tamaddon said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit because he hadn’t seen it. But he said the company is confident that it is within its legal rights.

“These are public figures, and the standards are different,” he said.

In an affidavit filed with the lawsuit, Kid Rock, who was born Robert Ritchie, said the video was shot in 1999 near Miami. At the time, Stapp was the lead singer of Creed.

Kid Rock said in the lawsuit filing that it was clearly understood that the video would remain Stapp’s private property and would not be displayed publicly.

Joseph has said previously that he got the tape from a third party. It involved women from a strip club and was taken in a motor home, he said.