Friday 13 January 2012

VU Move To Protect Banana Design

The Velvet Underground, took legal action on Wednesday to stop its famous Andy Warhol-designed banana being used on covers for Apple iPads and iPhones.
The 1960's band formed by Lou Reed and John Cale, accused the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts of trademark infringement, claiming that the banana album design – with "Peel slowly and see" printed near the tip – was synonymous with their work.
The band members said they launched the lawsuit after reading newspaper reports last year that the foundation had agreed to license the banana for a series of cases, sleeves and bags planned for Apple Inc's iPhone and iPad.
Apple is not named as a defendant in the civil case filed in Manhattan federal court.
Warhol managed the Velvet Undergound and the band performed regularly at his studio, The Factory.
 The pop artist selected the banana for use alongside his signature on the cover of The Velvet Underground's 1967 album The Velvet Underground and Nico, according to the lawsuit.
The group broke up in 1973, but the work later came to be regarded as one of the best albums of all time and was nicknamed The Banana Album.
As a result, the design, which was never officially copyrighted, "became a symbol, truly an icon, of the Velvet Underground" for some 25 years, the lawsuit said.
"The symbol has become so identified with the Velvet Underground … that members of the public, particularly those who listen to rock music, immediately recognise the banana design as the symbol of the Velvet Underground," the complaint added.
The legal papers also claimed the band had repeatedly asked the foundation to stop licensing the banana design to third parties "in a manner likely to cause confusion or mistake as to the association of Velvet Underground with the goods sold in commerce by such third parties".
The Velvet Underground is seeking an injunction preventing the use of the banana by third parties, a declaration that the Andy Warhol Foundation has no copyright interest in the design, unspecified damages, and a share of the profits made by the foundation from any licensing deals.
The foundation declined to comment on Wednesday.
Jasmine Coleman @'The Guardian' 
Someone here in Exile Towers has one of these cases for their laptop. 
It's NOT me..:)

No comments:

Post a Comment