Settlement reached in dispute over who owns Light City

Baltimore city government and the cofounders of Light City reached a settlement in a dispute over ownership of the festival that went public with lawsuits last year.
According to the Baltimore Sun, a federal court filing this week stated that Brooke and Justin Allen agreed to settle with the city in the case. With the agreement, a judge dismissed the initial suit filed by the city, and a countersuit filed by the Allens.
An attorney for the city told the Sun that details of the settlement are still being worked out.
The dispute emerged after the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA), which produces the weeklong festival, decided not to work with What Works Studio, which was founded by Hall, for this year’s edition of the festival.
Claiming the Allens were falsely misrepresenting ownership of the festival, the city asked a judge to name BOPA the sole owner of the Light City name and other marks.
The Allens, who created the festival, filed a countersuit saying that BOPA initially agreed to allow them to own the innovation conference portion of the festival.
In the court filings, the two sides also traded barbs about how the inaugural 2016 festival was run.
Before the city’s lawsuit, the two sides were in negotiation to settle the ownership issue privately.
The festival returned earlier this month for a second edition, adding weekend days and renaming the innovation conferences to Labs@Light City.