Nirvana Sues Marc Jacobs Over Logo

Who would have thought music and fashion would collide like this? Nirvana is in the process of suing fashion designer Marc Jacobs for copyright infringement. Jacobs’ recently released a new collection which pays homage to the grunge era. In the collection for Perry Ellis, you will find a t-shirt, sweatshirt, and socks that look pretty similar to Nirvana’s iconic smiley face logo.

The suit claims that Jacobs’ unauthorized “use of Nirvana’s copyrighted image on and to promote its products is intentional, and is part and parcel of a wider campaign to associate the entire ‘Bootleg Redux Grunge’ collection with Nirvana, one of the founders of the ‘Grunge’ musical genre, so as to make the ‘Grunge’ association with the collection more authentic.” It also says that Jacobs used the smiley face logo in various unauthorized ways to promote the line, and used Nirvana references such as “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Come as You Are” in marketing materials. The suit claims that Jacobs’ “wrongful actions” “have caused Nirvana to suffer irreparable injuries, and threaten to dilute the value of Nirvana’s licenses.” It continues, “Defendants’ misuse of Nirvana’s intellectual property to promote themselves and the ‘Bootleg Redux Grunge’ collection damages the goodwill associated with Nirvana and violates its rights in numerous ways.”

Read up more on the lawsuit here.