Marlon Brando Estate Suing Madonna For Trademark Infringment
The Material Girl has allegedly been using material on tour that doesn’t belong to her.
The owners of the Marlon Brando’s trademark rights filed a lawsuit in California federal court on Thursday against Madonna and Bhatki Touring, Inc. for using the late actor’s image without permission.
The trademark owners, Brando Enterprises (apparently represented by Brand Sense Partners) reportedly agreed to Madonna’s one-time use of the Oscar-winning Godfather actor’s image for her 2012 Super Bowl performance but nothing more. Brand Sense claims that it specifically denied Madonna permission to use Marlon Brando’s image on her current tour in subsequent negotiations.
According to the the Pop Crush website, Madonna has to pay licensing fees to the estates of the deceased celebs namedropped in her song “Vogue,” but she and the Brando group never reached an agreement on how much she would have to cough up. Evidently there may be another similar trademark infringement lawsuit pending in Indianapolis federal court.
Entertainment website The Wrap reports that the lawsuit alleges misappropriation of publicity rights and trademark infringement and seeks various forms of money damages. The lawsuit also seeks an injunction to prevent by court order any further use of Marlon Brando’s image going forward.
Another controversy has emerged in her current tour. As The Inquisitr has previously reported, Madonna has brandished fake guns on stage in all of the stops on her MDNA tour, but her use of them in Colorado in particular struck many as insensitive, given the theater shooting that took place in Aurora five months ago.
