Two former members of Heart have sued the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for using their likenesses in the promotion of the 2013 Induction Ceremony despite the fact they weren’t inducted.

Mark Andes (bass) and Dennis Carmassi (drums) were members of Heart from 1982 through 1993, during the band’s renaissance period when they had a string of hit singles. When the Rock Hall inducted Heart last year, they chose to only recognize the original 1970s lineup, so Andes and Carmassi were not inducted.

Andes and Carmassi claim that although Heart's most public members, Ann and Nancy Wilson, asked the [Rock Hall] foundation to correct its mistake and include the two members in the 2013 induction, it refused without giving a reason. The Hall of Fame, however, proceeded to use images and videos of Andes and Carmassi and the songs they performed to promote Heart’s induction, the pair says.

When their fans around the world congratulated the two after seeing their images and songs used by the Hall of Fame, Andes and Carmassi say they were humiliated by having to inform their fans and peers that they were inexplicably not chosen for induction.

The pair is not asking the Hall of Fame to induct them but is suing it for portraying them in a false light, misappropriating their name and likeness, and for defamation.

“Defendants knowingly and maliciously communicated to the public by implication that plaintiffs were not valuable members of the band Heart when it failed to induct them, but concomitantly used plaintiffs' images and song performances to promote the band's nomination and induction,” the complaint said.

The 2013 Rock Hall inductees were announced on December 11, 2012, however, the Rock Hall never publicly announced which band members were being inducted until they updated their website approximately four months later.

Andes and Carmassi say they wrote a letter to the Hall of Fame in January 2013, asking why they were excluded and pointed out that its biography for Heart extensively references Heart's success in the 1980s, including its four Grammy nominations, to which they contributed heavily.

The Hall of Fame's CEO [Joel Peresman] responded the following day, defending the decision and ignoring the fact that the Hall of Fame was using the band's success with Andes and Carmassi, the artists say.

The pair has also brought additional counts of injurious falsehood and equitable relief.

The duo is seeking compensatory damages for all losses, treble damages on all trademark claims, punitive damages and exemplary damages.

The Rock Hall has not yet responded publicly to the charges contained in the lawsuit.

The issue of which band members get inducted into the Hall of Fame has been an ongoing source of controversy for the institution. The 2014 inductions cast a bright light on the issue when the Rock Hall decided that only the original members of Kiss were being honored, which led to the band opting not to perform at the ceremony. In response to the 2014 controversy, Joel Peresman told USA Today that the Rock Hall will change when they announce which members are being included.

"Going forward, we'll be more clear-cut from the beginning and more public about who's being inducted," Peresman says. "(The next time) we announce the nominees, we'll make sure to say, 'Here are the people being nominated.' “

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This week it was revealed that Mark Andes is involved in another high profile lawsuit. Andes and the benefactors of Randy California are suing Led Zeppelin for plagiarizing “Stairway to Heaven” from the Spirit song “Taurus.”

The lawyer for Mark Andes in both cases is Francis Malofiy of Francis Alexander LLC.