Louis Vuitton and SonyBMG Lawsuit Pulls Ruben Studdard’s Record Off Shelves
Date: 08/02/08 | By Njai Joszor
Filed under: R&B News, Ruben Studdard
French fashion house Louis Vuitton won a landmark lawsuit this week after Sony BMG artists Ruben Studdard, Britney Spears and Da Brat used the designers logo without authorization.
According to recent reports, the fashion house won the undisclosed sum after battling the label for five years over the unauthorized use of the logo on cars, jackets and other materials featured in the music videos and album covers.
The settlement, which includes several lawsuits and is estimated to be near $300,000 (US) according to MTV, was awarded after the designer was able to prove its case by featuring evidence including a Louis Vuitton branded beach ball from one of Hip Hop artist Da Brat’s videos; a LV patterned dashboard in Britney Spears’ “Do Somethin” video and on Ruben Studdard’s jacket, which is featured on the stars 2006 album “The Return.”
As part of the settlement, Studdard’s “The Return” album will be pulled from shelves. The label was also told that it may not import, distribute, or manufacture the album either.
"We believe the terms of this agreement will provide strong protection to our brand worldwide," Nathalie Moulle-Berteaux, a spokesperson for the Parisian fashion house, said in a statement.
Sony has also been instructed to use its best efforts to educate its various record labels about Louis Vuitton intellectual property so that when developing products, they will be in a position to refrain from developing and selling products bearing the Louis Vuitton intellectual property.
Source: Marketwatch/ MTV News
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Why was only Ruben's album pulled? This is whack.
This is stupid, what did him having a LV on have to do with his record being sold, or being in a video have to do with the video getting airplay, that is the dumbest case in the lawyers for the record label caved in, there is no way to even quantify how what you wore had to do with a video being requested or a person purchasing what you are singing, BMG Lost