It’s being reported that French electronic music duo Justice - Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay - have sent a cease-and-desist letter to Justin Bieber, asking him to stop using the “cross” logo that they believe they trademarked some time ago.
As you may know, in Justice’s logo, the ‘t’ is styled to look like a crucifix. The band have also used the logo on artwork and merchandise throughout their career, and their debut album is commonly referred to as ‘Cross’. Their claim is that Bieber’s new album, released today and also called Justice, has a title font that bears similarities.
The cease-and-desist letter has been obtained by Rolling Stone, and states: “Your use of the Mark is illegal. 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 consumers.”
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Speaking to Rolling Stone, Justice’s co-manager Tyler Goldberg of Jet Management, said: “The morning Bieber announced his album, it was pretty tough to miss. 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?'”
The cease-and-desist letter is also said to contain an alleged email from Bieber’s team to Justice’s management, dated 29 April 2020, in which they ask for help in finding the designer who created their logo. After the two parties were put in touch, it’s claimed that Bieber’s team then quickly stopped communicating with the designer, who’s so far declined to comment on the issue.
When Bieber revealed the artwork for Justice, back in February, Justice’s record company, Ed Banger, took to Instagram to joke about what they saw as similarities. To coincide with the album launch, Bieber has also launched a clothing line featuring the Justice album logo. Justice - the band - also have a line of merchandise featuring their logo.
Rolling Stone says that it’s reached out to Justin Bieber’s legal team and representatives for comment but hasn’t received a response.
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