Civil rights icon renews rap fight

Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955

American civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks has been given permission to sue rap group OutKast for using her name on one of their hit records.

An appeals court in Cincinnati overturned an earlier ruling that that the US group had not illegally used her name on a track from the album Aquemini.

Ms Parks, who is famous for taking a stand against segregation in 1955, alleges OutKast's use of her name infringed her right to publicity.

The case has now been sent back to a lower court to be heard, after the lawsuit was originally dismissed in 1999.

The court will have to determine whether the use of Ms Parks' name was "symbolic" or a "disguised commercial advertisement".

But the appeals panel dismissed claims that the song defamed the 90-year-old and affected her business dealings.

Ms Parks is credited with launching the civil rights movement after refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Alabama.

'Artistic relevance'

Her arrest sparked a mass boycott of buses which eventually led to the desegregation of the transport system, a huge victory for the civil rights movement.

Speaking about the appeal court's decision, Ms Parks' lawyer, Gregory Reed, said the case reaffirmed the rights of citizens in the US that their name could not be appropriated for profit.

"It's another stand for which Mrs Parks has stood tall," he said.

The lawsuit seeks to have all references to Ms Parks removed from future recordings.

For the Court of Appeal, US District Judge John Holschuh wrote that it was "highly questionable" as to whether the title has any artistic relevance to the lyrics of the song, which include the phrase "move to the back of the bus".

OutKast's lawyer Joseph Beck said the lyrics were derived from Ms Parks' experience but were intended as a put down to other rap artists.

Lawyers for OutKast are seriously considering another appeal "because First Amendment issues affecting artistic freedom are at stake".