ABBA sues British cover band for trademark infringement

ABBA has sued a cover band for trademark infringement and I guess they’ll hoping it’s a case of ‘The winner takes it all’.

As reported by Billboard, a lawsuit was filed by ABBA on Friday, December 3rd. They claimed that the British cover band ABBA MANIA’s use of the name was part of a “brazen attempt” to trade on the band’s “cachet.” They further argued that ABBA MANIA has been intentionally misleading fans into believing that they are actually endorses by ABBA themselves.

“Defendants include the term ‘official’ and ‘original’ in many of their marketing materials, website pages, and social media handles, which gives consumers the impression that there is some kind of association, affiliation, or sponsorship between ABBA and ABBA MANIA,” the group stated.

Cover bands are of course not a new concept. When the original artist has taken umbrage at their existence in the past, these cover bands have often managed to avoid legal issues by clearly stating that they aren’t affiliated with the original band. That’s why ABBA said in their lawsuit that they had offered ABBA MANIA the opportunity to change their name, an offer that was ultimately refused.

“In an attempt to amicably resolve this dispute, (ABBA) explained how defendants could properly use the phrase ‘ABBA Tribute’ in a non-confusing manner to describe their tribute act so long as the actual name of the tribute act did not include the word ABBA,” the lawsuit said. “But Defendants refused to comply and cease use of the name ABBA MANIA.”

Interestingly, ABBA MANIA’s official website includes the following: “ABBA MANIA IS NO WAY ASSOCIATED, AFFILIATED, OR ENDORSED BY POLAR MUSIC OR ABBA.” That doesn’t seem to be enough for the Swedish legends, however.

This year would probably have been a big time for any ABBA cover band, with the release of the original’s first album in 40 years, Voyager.