French dance duo Justice have sent Justin Bieber a stop notice over the singer’s upcoming album Justice and which they believe is the use of Justice’s trademark “cross” logo.
When Bieber releases his new album Justice On February 26, fans of Justice – as well as duo label Ed Banger Records – claim that there are similarities between the title font on Bieber’s album cover and Justice’s own logo, where the ‘t’ is emphasized like a stylized crucifix.
“The morning Bieber announced his album, it was pretty hard to miss,” said Tyler Goldberg, co-manager of Jet Management. Rolling clip. ‘Besides seeing it on the internet ourselves, we’ve heard hundreds of people through the day – people from the industry, fans of Justice – and the guys from Justice received a lot of messages, and not just forced the agreements between the Justice Justin Bieber album, but confused. “Is this a Justice Cooperation?” ‘
While Ed Banger Records first made a joke about the deal at the end of February when the album cover was released, the situation has since become a legal affair. In a March 10 letter from Justice’s attorney to Bieber’s attorney and management, Justice called on Bieber to discontinue and stop his use of ‘Justice’, along with the ‘cross’, a ‘mark’ ‘which the duo had branded in both France (in 2008) and the European Union (in 2014).
‘Your use of the Market is illegal. You have not received permission from Justice to use the mark, ” the letter, obtained by Rolling clip, lui. “Moreover, Bieber’s work is in no way connected to, supported or sponsored by Justice. Such use of the Market is not only illegal but can also mislead and confuse consumers. ‘
The termination letter also contains an email dated April 29, 2020 in which Bieber’s team reached out to the management of Justice to contact the designer who created Justice’s logo. ‘We’re trying to find the designer who did the logo below for Justice. I was hoping you could point me in the right direction, ‘a member of Bieber’s management team emailed an agency representing the group. In another email, the designer told Bieber management: “I’m available next week to discuss logo design.” However, after the initial email, Justice’s management says that Bieber’s team stopped the communication. (The designer did not want to comment on this article.)
“Basically, the trail got cold. There were attempts to compile the introduction, and it never happened, ”said John Scholz, co-manager of Justice, at Jet Management. Rolling clipand added that it was a shock when Bieber announced Justice. ‘Since we received emails from them where a member of [Bieber’s] the management team specifically attached the Justice logo and asked to contact the Justice logo designer; they mentioned that it had to work on a Justin Bieber project, and they gave us no details about it, and made no mention of an album called ‘Justice’ or a logo with the word ‘Justice’. ”
The letter continues: “Through your illegal co-operation of the Market, you are now subject to immediate legal action and damages, including, but not limited to, criminal and injustice relief.”
In the letter, Justice’s legal team cites previous trademark cases – from the Lanham Act to lawsuits involving trademarks such as Wal-Mart, Bacardi and LL Bean – to argue that Bieber’s use of the Market amounts to infringement as well as “trade dilution” ‘. ‘Bieber’s team was not only aware of Justice’s use of the Mark, but tried to use the same artist to duplicate it essentially for the album. It is bad faith and intentional infringement of the textbook, ”reads the letter.
Goldberg adds: ‘Justice is not an obscure artist. They just won a Grammy for best electronic album [in 2019]. They have set up festivals around the world. (Justice declined to comment on this article, citing pending legal action.)
Despite the letter, Bieber pushed forward with the Justice release on March 19th. The singer is releasing a range of new clothes, including a sweatshirt with a cross on the front – Justice’s debut album from 2007, dubbed ‘Cross’ by fans, features a similar cross on the album cover – as well as a ‘Justice Cross Hoodie’. which fans of the group claim recalls the font used for Justice’s 2019 film Iris: A Space Opera.
While neither a member of Bieber’s legal team nor his representative responded Rolling clipAt the request of comments, the management of Justice claims that Bieber’s legal team “rejected” the stop-and-go letter and claims that the singer’s logo and merchandise do not infringe on the duo’s trademark.
“Global patent and trademark offices do not police the use of trademarks by third parties. Consequently, trademarks must be defended by the trademark holder at all times, ”says Goldberg.
“The duty on the trademark owner is to protect against illegal use by third parties, regardless of whether the third party is a billionaire manager or a music superstar,” he adds. “We will continue to protect the Justice logo – the brand that was created 15 years ago – at all costs.”