Pinellas woman who sold Luke Combs- themed tumblers owes country star $250,000, judge rules
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Nicol Harness suffers from congestive heart failure and her only job is selling homemade tumblers and T-shirts through Amazon.
She’s a big Luke Combs fan, and says after she went to his concert in Tampa this summer she decided to start offering a Luke Combs-themed tumbler. She says she bought artwork online and sold 18 tumblers for $20 each, for a total of $380.
Now, she’s learned Combs sued her in federal court in Illinois, along with various others, for selling counterfeit merchandise. The worst part—the case is already closed, and the judge ordered each defendant, including Harness, to pay $250,000 to Combs.
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“It’s very stressful. I don’t have money to pay my bills,” Harness said. “I just want this resolved. I didn’t mean any harm to Luke Combs. I quit selling the tumbler. I pulled it down. I just don’t understand.”
Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken reached out to the attorney who represented Combs in this case and has not yet heard back. It is unclear whether Combs is aware of the matter.
Harness said she had no idea she had been sued until days after she returned from a hospital stay to discover she had no access to the money she had earned through her Amazon storefront.
“I sent so many messages to Amazon asking for answers but couldn’t figure it out,” she said.
Then, she discovered an email in her junk email folder. It was the notice of the lawsuit in October from Comb’s attorney giving her 21 days to respond. She never got that chance and says she was in the hospital when the email was delivered to her junk mail folder and sent to an email address she says she rarely uses.
In Florida, the law required that you’re served notice of a lawsuit by a process server in person. The law recently changed in Illinois and email is now sufficient.
Attorney Matt Weidner, who is not involved in this case, says he is surprised by the law change.
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“Frankly, to find out that in Illinois they are now allowing email service, this may be the test case for why that shouldn’t happen,” Weidner said. “I certainly encourage her to communicate with the court and tell her side of the story.”
Weidner says this story should serve as a cautionary tale to anyone who sells products online that copyright infringement is a serious violation that could cost you bigtime.
“I am surprised and sympathetic to this woman is probably just trying to provide for herself, but the law can be very harsh,” she said.
Harness says she’d like to get a message to Combs and the attorneys representing him.
“I would tell him I’m sorry, like I said I didn’t mean any harm. I’m a supporter of Luke Combs. I respect him. This is not something I meant to go wrong like this. I just want to get back to my day to day life.”
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