Justice sent Justin Bieber a cease & desist letter over his new album artwork and the official merchandise. The duo claims Justin Bieber’s album cover artwork infringes on their trademark.
The long-awaited, and at the same time controversial, album by Justin Bieber came out last Friday, receiving many positive and negative reactions. What many did not expect is the problem that he is causing with one of the most important duos of electronic music in history.
When Justin Bieber announced the release of this album, many fans approached the duo to ask about the possible collaboration between these two musicians. Although upon seeing this, Justice’s management saw that it was rather a case of infringement of the duo’s graphic identity. Justice mentions that the cover uses the trademarked cross logo along with the word “justice“. They also say that there are similarities between the font of the album title and their logo.
Justice registered both the word and the cross in France in 2008 and the European Union in 2014. They released their debut album in 2007, and it is titled Cross. The letter was sent on March 10 to Justin Bieber’s lawyers and management.
“Your use of the Mark is illegal. You have not received permission from Justice to utilize the Mark (…). Moreover, Bieber’s work is in no way affiliated with, supported by, or sponsored by Justice. Such use of the Mark is not only illegal but likely to deceive and confuse consumers.”
Part of the letter, Obtained by Rolling Stones
Reactions And Answers to Justice Letter over Justin Bieber’s Album
Ed Banger records joked about it on Instagram when they saw the cover reveal on Justin Bieber’s social media.
Although at first, everything seemed to be a coincidence, the response of Justin Bieber’s team leaves much to be desired. The letter also contains an email sent on April 29, 2020, where Bieber’s team contacted the designer of Justice’s logo. After that, communications from both sides ceased.
In short, Justin Bieber’s team was aware of Justice’s use of the trademark. They also wanted to contact the designer of the brand to replicate it for him. Justice’s team says that Justin Bieber’s team rejected the cease & desist letter on the grounds that the album and merchandise do not infringe on the duo’s trademark. Justice says that not only is this infringement, but also “trademark dilution”.
“The onus is on the trademark owner to protect against unlawful use by third parties, regardless of the third party being a billionaire manager or a music superstar. We’ll continue to protect the Justice logo — the trademark that was established 15 years ago — at all costs.”
Tyler Goldberg , Justice Manager
At this point Justin Bieber is not obeying the cease and desist demand, so we expect this case to heat up. We’ll keep you updated.
