US rock band The Velvet Underground have had a
copyright claim over their iconic Andy Warhol-designed album cover dismissed by
a federal judge.
The group
accused The Andy Warhol Foundation of copyright infringement, saying it
illegally licensed the famous banana logo for use on other products.
Manhattan
district judge Alison Nathan rejected The Velvet Underground's copyright claim.
A trademark
claim by the band can still go ahead.
The judge said
on Friday said The Warhol Foundation's agreement not to sue for copyright
infringement over The Velvet Underground's use of the image meant there was no
copyright dispute for her to resolve.
She dismissed
that claim without prejudice, which means it could be brought before the court
again.
Clifford James,
a lawyer for The Velvet Underground, said the band disagreed with the ruling
and believes it will win its trademark claim.
A trademark can
protect an image for commercial use.
Joshua Paul, a
lawyer for The Andy Warhol Foundation, declined to comment.
'Truly an icon'
Warhol served
as the manager and producer of the band, which was formed by Lou Reed and John
Cale in the mid-1960s.
He designed
their first album cover, which incorporated the banana symbol and the phrase
"peel slowly and see".
On early
editions of the album, the banana skin was a sticker which could be removed to
display the flesh underneath.
Legal papers
filed in Manhattan in January stated that the artwork, which was never
officially copyrighted, "became a symbol, truly an icon, of The Velvet
Underground" for some 25 years.
"The
symbol has become so identified with The Velvet Underground that members of the
public... immediately recognise the banana design as the symbol of The Velvet
Underground," court papers said.
The band
accused The Warhol Foundation of trying to "deceive the public" into
thinking they had given their "sponsorship or approval" to a number
of products - including iPad covers and accessories - that now carry the image.
The acclaimed
album, which featured German singer Nico as a co-vocalist, contained such
tracks as I'm Waiting for the Man, Venus in Furs and Heroin.
It was added to
the US National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2006.
Although they
sold poorly at the time, The Velvet Underground have come to be considered one
of the most influential groups of the 1960s.
Various
artists, including David Bowie and REM, have admitted to being inspired by them.
Source:
BBC
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