Justin Bieber Receives Cease-and-Desist Over New Album

Justin Bieber has received a cease-and-desist order over his brand new album, Justice, which was [...]

By Stephen Andrew

Justin Bieber has received a cease-and-desist order over his brand new album, Justice, which was just released. According to Spin, French electronic music duo Justice issued the cease-and-desist over the album's title logo. According to the group, the design is an infringement on their one band logo, with features a larger lower case "t" in the middle of the word.

"Bieber's team emailed us in May of 2020, asking to be looped in with Justice's graphic designer to discuss a logo," a statement from the group read. "We tried to set up a call between Bieber's team and our designer, but the call was never completed and the conversation ended there. No one ever mentioned an album called Justice or a logo that says Justice. The first time we saw anything about it was the announcement."

"Your use of the Mark is illegal," Justice's counsel writes in the cease-and-desist letter, referring to the symbol which the duo trademarked in 2008. "You have not received permission from Justice to utilize the Mark. 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 costumers."

Counsel for Justice added that "Justice's Mark has priority both in the United States and abroad" because the musicians have performed in the United States and sell merchandise to U.S. customers. The duo and their counsel have asked Bieber and his team to "cease and deist any and all uses of Justice's Mark in any and all personal and business endeavors, including but not limited to [his] Album and social media."

Consequence of Sound reports that Justice claims to have received a reply from Bieber's legal team, stating they will not comply with the cease-and-desist as they reject the allegations of copyright infringement. "Global patent and trademark offices do not police the use of trademarks by third parties. As a result, trademarks need to be defended at all times by the trademark holder," said one of Justice's co-managers, Tyler Goldberg.

He added, "The onus is on the trademark owner to protect against an unlawful use by third parties, regardless of the third party being a billionaire manager or a music superstar." Finally, Goldberg said, "We'll continue to protect the Justice logo — the trademark that was established 15 years ago — at all costs."

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