Justin Bieber threatened with lawsuit for plagiarism – VG

The Bieber camp has been sent a so-called “cease-and-desist” message – a letter of demand – from the French electronics duo Justice, which complains about both Bieber’s new album cover and all associated fan effects. It reports Rolling Stone.

The conflict is mainly about the letter “T” in the duo’s logo, which is designed as a cross, and has been their visual hallmark since the debut album in 2007 – whose cover and title were only this symbol.

Justice must have trademarked the symbol since 2008 in France, and since 2014 throughout the EU.

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The duo received a lot of attention, hits and critical acclaim when they debuted, and is a nickname at festivals around the world.

Contacted designer

The letter of demand to Bieber must include an e-mail from Bieber’s team, sent in April 2020 and addressed to Justice’s management, requesting to be contacted by the designer who originally designed the Justice logo.

The designer is said to have told Bieber’s team that he was available to talk about the case. According to Justice’s management, they heard no more from the Bieber camp after this. The designer has declined to comment to Rolling Stone.

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Justice’s co-manager John Scholz tells Rolling Stone that they were “shocked” when Bieber announced today’s album release and cover on Instagram on February 26.

According to him, the original e-mail from the Bieber camp must have been sparse with information. Neither the album title nor the use of a logo with the word “justice” should have been mentioned. However, the band logo must have been attached.

Intentional violation

According to another Justice manager, Tyler Goldberg, they and the duo received hundreds of inquiries after Bieber went out with the title and cover.

– The Justice guys received a ton of messages, from people who not only pointed out the similarities with the Justin Bieber album, but who were also confused: “Is this a collaboration with Justice?”, Goldberg says to Rolling Stone.

“Their use of the Mark is illegal. You have not received permission from Justice to use the Mark. Furthermore, Bieber’s work is in no way affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Justice. Such use of the Mark is not only illegal but also liable to defraud and confuse consumers », it says in the letter of demand.

“This is evil faith and willful transgression according to the textbook”, it is further stated in the letter, where it is threatened with lawsuits and claims for damages.

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Justin Bieber and his team have not commented on the case at the time of writing.

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