‘I Believe in Nashville’ artist sues former manager
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The artist who created the iconic “I Believe in Nashville” mural has filed a lawsuit against his former manager, accusing him of pocketing money meant for the artist.
According to the lawsuit, Adrien Saporiti (AKA DCXV Industries, LLC) transferred the rights to the “I Believe in Nashville” intellectual property to Richard Egan (AKA I Came Uninvited and I Believe Brewing Company) in December 2017.
Egan was reportedly acting as Saporiti’s manager at the time of the transfer.
Click here to read the lawsuit in its entirety.
The first “I Believe in Nashville” mural was installed in 12South before a second at Marathon Music Works, a third at Mitchell’s Deli in East Nashville and a fourth on the exterior wall of the Basement East venue.
Saporiti created the mural to showcase his love and admiration to his hometown before it became an “iconic representation of Nashville and its residents,” according to the lawsuit.
Tourists and locals to Nashville told News, this mural is so much more than a painting, it represents loving your city.
“I see this every morning when I walk over here from parking,” Nashville local, Ashton Pelsy said. “I believe in Nashville I love the idea of believing in where you live.”
“Every single time something happens, whether its like weather or something, they rebuild and they just keep getting stronger and stronger,” Nashville tourist, Pat Malagsi said.
The lawsuit states the murals gained recognition as a photo backdrop for “countless native Nashvillians and tourists looking for a positive, Nashville-centric photo opportunity.” The Basement East was hit by an EF-3 tornado in March 2020 but the mural survived and became an image of survival following the deadly tornado outbreak.
‘I Believe in Nashville’ mural restored in 12South
Saporiti claims in the lawsuit he was acting under Egan’s influence when he “made the difficult decision to transfer his rights” to the intellectual property to Egan.
Under the asset purchase agreement, Egan paid Saporiti $750,000 in multiple installments, agreed to pay an 8% royalty generated from “I Believe in Nashville” and provide accounting statements every six months, according to the lawsuit.
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Per the filing, Saporiti terminated Egan as his manager in December 2018 due to the “deterioration of the client-manager relationship and Egan’s breaches of the agreement and acts of self-dealing.”
Egan is accused of failing to pay Saporiti royalties owed, failing to provide accounting every six months and failing to send statements.
Saporiti is seeking a judgment amount to be determined by the court and an accounting of Egan’s business dealings in relation to “I Believe in Nashville.”
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