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Justice Hit Justin Bieber With Cease-And-Desist Over His New Album

Justice Hit Justin Bieber With Cease-And-Desist Over His New Album

Justice have sent a cease-and-desist notice to Justin Bieber over the the styling of the word “Justice” on the album cover to his upcoming LP Justice and its accompanying merchandise, Rolling Stone reports. When Bieber first announced the album last month, many music fans — including our own commenters — noted the artwork’s similarity to the French dance duo’s iconic cross logo. Although Justice’s label Ed Banger joked about the resemblance at first, the band has now taken legal action to protect their trademark.

“The morning Bieber announced his album, it was pretty tough to miss,” Justice’s co-manager Tyler Goldberg of Jet Management tells Rolling Stone. “Aside from seeing it all over the internet ourselves, we heard from hundreds of people throughout the day — industry people, Justice fans — and the Justice guys received a ton of messages, not only compelled to point out the similarities between the Justice Justin Bieber album, but confused. ‘Is this a Justice collaboration?’”

Justice are arguing that Bieber use’s of the stylized crucifix logo, a “Mark” that they trademarked in France and the European Union, in tandem with the word “Justice” constitutes infringement. “Your use of the Mark is illegal. You have not received permission from Justice to utilize the Mark,” the letter states. “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.”

“We have received emails from them where a member of [Bieber’s] management team specifically attached the Justice logo and asked to connect with the Justice logo designer,” Justice co-manager John Scholz adds to Rolling Stone. “They mentioned it was to work on a Justin Bieber project, they did not give us any details about it, no mention of an album called ‘Justice’ or a logo using the word ‘Justice.’”

“Not only was Bieber’s team actually aware of Justice’s use of the Mark, they sought to use the same artist to essentially duplicate it for the Album. This is textbook bad faith and willful infringement,” Justice’s cease-and-desist letter continues, arguing, “Through your illegal co-opting of the Mark, you are now subject to immediate legal action and damages including, but not limited to, punitive and injustice relief.”

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