Hollywood trade newspaper Variety has lost in its attempt to pursue a trademark claim in Delaware against the punk band The Vandals. Round one to the punks!
In 2004, the Vandals released their 10th album, "Hollywood Potato Chip". The album's title is a euphemism for dried semen on a casting couch, and the original cover art used lettering that parodied the logo of Variety. It prompted legal action and a cease and desist order from the magazine, resulting in a replacement cover with redesigned lettering. However, Variety brought a new suit over third-party uses of the original cover appearing on the interweb.
The original settlement with the band, in addition to changing the cover, stipulated that band members would have to pay $50,000 plus attorneys fees if the group ever reneged. But with the appearance on the cover art online...
The band claimed it wasn't behind the breaches, and he case will be moving to a California federal court, thanks to Vandals bassist and lawyer Joe Escalante (a Loyola Law School alum who worked in business affairs at CBS, as well as host of the "Barely Legal Radio" program, which covers entertainment legal matters.
On the Vandals' website, Escalante is touting the successful opening move, and a video about the dispute, featuring a fake conversation between Variety's former editor Peter Bart and his lawyer is also posted. In the video, Bart questions why the publication is spending $100,000 in attorney's fees to win a $50,000 claim at a time when the publication is dwindling in size. Good question...
In 2004, the Vandals released their 10th album, "Hollywood Potato Chip". The album's title is a euphemism for dried semen on a casting couch, and the original cover art used lettering that parodied the logo of Variety. It prompted legal action and a cease and desist order from the magazine, resulting in a replacement cover with redesigned lettering. However, Variety brought a new suit over third-party uses of the original cover appearing on the interweb.
The original settlement with the band, in addition to changing the cover, stipulated that band members would have to pay $50,000 plus attorneys fees if the group ever reneged. But with the appearance on the cover art online...
The band claimed it wasn't behind the breaches, and he case will be moving to a California federal court, thanks to Vandals bassist and lawyer Joe Escalante (a Loyola Law School alum who worked in business affairs at CBS, as well as host of the "Barely Legal Radio" program, which covers entertainment legal matters.
On the Vandals' website, Escalante is touting the successful opening move, and a video about the dispute, featuring a fake conversation between Variety's former editor Peter Bart and his lawyer is also posted. In the video, Bart questions why the publication is spending $100,000 in attorney's fees to win a $50,000 claim at a time when the publication is dwindling in size. Good question...
No comments:
Post a Comment