Official Announcement: Rhythmix and Syco

Both Syco and Rhythmix have been in touch and this matter has been positively resolved. Syco commends all the good work that Rhythmix does, and are happy to make a donation to the charity. As previously agreed, Syco will also withdraw the application for the trademark. Rhythmix wish Little Mix the best in their endeavours for The X Factor and would like to thank Syco for their donation and for withdrawing their trademark application.

Rhythmix would like to thank all the members of the public who supported the Charity in seeking to resolve this matter, and to thank Unity PR.

Chief Executive Mark Davyd said "We are very pleased this has been brought to an amicable conclusion. These are difficult times for charities and other third sector organisations, and we are very pleased that we have been able to reach an agreement with SyCo to put this matter behind us." Mr Davyd confirmed that all donations made to the Charity by the public in the last few weeks would be used to support frontline projects working with vulnerable young people, as was the declared intention during the fundraising campaign.

#CowellMustPay

Rhythmix is launching a #CowellMustPay social media campaign to help raise money towards the £8,000 legal fees incurred to date, after Simon Cowell’s lawyers unsuccessfully tried to force the charity to relinquish its name in a trademark dispute.

Alistair McGowan, along with other famous faces, is calling on the British public to VOTE for the music charity this Saturday, instead of the remaining X Factor acts, in a show of solidarity against the treatment received at the hands of Simon Cowell’s Simco Ltd.

Cowell’s firm has used trademark laws to potentially put the South East-based charity out of business, and has left the charity with legal fees of £8,000 – an amount that could be used for 120 hours or 10 days of music training for disabled and vulnerable youth.

The Rhythmix ‘Cowell Must Pay’ fundraising campaign will launch on Saturday 12th November from 9.30pm, during the live broadcast of the X Factor show. In order to support Rhythmix, text RTMX11 £1 to 70070 from Saturday 12th November to donate £1. This will help pay the charity’s hefty legal bill.

We call on X Factor viewers to text to help Rhythmix in lieu of their usual text vote for X factor’s acts.

The #CowellMustPay campaign is being run – pro bono – by creative agency Unity. Unity co-founder Nik Done said “This is a classic case of David vs Goliath and this time Cowell Must Pay”.

Show support on Twitter by following the @RhythmixMusic and by tweeting #CowellMustPay.

The text-to-donate service is run by JustTextGiving, the UK’s first ever free text donation service. Message costs £1 of which 100% will go to Rhythmix Music. There are no extra user costs and no network charges. UK taxpayers may Gift Aid their donation by clicking the link in the thank you message.

To donate online please visit our Rhythmix Just Giving page.

To keep up-to-date with all news please like our Facebook Page 

An Open Letter to Simon Cowell

Dear Simon

Rhythmix and the X Factor

On 23 September 2011 Simco (a company largely owned by you) lodged an application in Europe to trademark the name "Rhythmix" for use by the programme X Factor. At the time of lodging that application X Factor and Simco were fully aware that "Rhythmix" was an existing trademarked name of a music charity that works with vulnerable young people.

Rather than seeking any discussion with the Charity, considering any of the moral implications of their actions, or checking with the Charity whether the pursuit of an exclusive trademark might have a negative impact on the activities of the Charity, Simco and their legal representatives apparently sought a way to use the law to circumvent the trademark of the Charity.

We don't buy this media invention of you as Mr Nasty. Your wikipedia entry explains at length your involvement with children's charities, and we commend you for it. But equally we don't believe that you are unaware of the way your own company is acting. Or maybe your staff are trying to "manage" it for you?

By pursuing these trademarks Simco is forcing the Charity to take legal action to ensure it can continue to exist and offer opportunities to young people to create and perform their own music. Maybe those young people won't be on your programmes, or your record label, but the music they create is important to them.

Rhythmix the charity has worked with over 40,000 young people in the last twelve years. All of that work is placed at risk by the actions of your company. Every legal action the Charity has to take to protect itself from Simco is a project that won't happen. A project that could make a difference to a vulnerable young person. A large number of the public reading this will see it for exactly what it is; a ridiculously overblown storm in a tiny teacup. Simco are solely responsible for that situation and you can resolve it in a matter of seconds.

For that reason, Simon, we are personally asking you to sort this problem out in the quickest and simplest way:

Just change the name.

Thank you.

Mark Davyd
Chief Executive
Rhythmix