Back in 2014, Tahlia Barnett was forced to change her performing moniker from twigs to FKA twigs after legal action was pushed against her by a ’90s pop duo and despite a year having passed since her title alteration, they believe Barnett must change her name again.
The same disgruntled sisters Linda and Laura Goods, The Twigs, make claim that Barnett is violating their registered trademark name, and as such have motioned for her to change her name yet again after retaining the right to sue after a their attempts to take out a restraining order was denied by a judge as Billboard reports.
Barnett had allegedly reached out to the Goods sisters as early as 2013, offering them $15,000 so that both of their creative handles could co-exist. This was rejected by the Goods sisters who stated “We have not agreed to this distinction, Since September 2013, [Barnett] has been on notice of her willful trademark violation.”
FKA twigs and Beggars Group cited precedence as their defence at the original time of the issue, giving the following examples to the judge,”Bands have routinely used derivative names in order to avoid consumer confusion. Dinosaur became Dinosaur Jr., Blink became Blink-182, Suede became the London Suede, and the Charlatans became the Charlatans U.K. Here, FKA Twigs is clearly and easily distinguishable from The Twigs.”
The Twigs’ attorney has stated that the situation between the Goods sisters and Barnett will not be resolved unless Barnett enters a personal use agreement, which would see her paying more than $15,000 for the rights to the trademark.
To stamp out any confusion between The Twigs and FKA twigs, here’s a video of each artist performing, let’s be fair – they’re pretty damn distinguishable.
