French dance duo Justice sent a cease-and-desist notice to Justin Bieber over the singer’s upcoming album Justice.
Rolling Stone reports that the duo’s label, Ed Banger Records, claimed there were similarities between the title font on Bieber’s album cover and Justice’s own trademarked “cross” logo.
Justice’s co-manager Tyler Goldberg of Jet Management told the magazine, “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?'”
In a March 10th letter from Justice’s counsel to Bieber’s lawyer and management, Justice called for Bieber to cease and desist his use of “Justice” in tandem with the “cross,” a “Mark” which the duo trademarked in both France (in 2008) and the European Union (in 2014). The duo’s legal team also includes an April 29th, 2020 email in which Bieber’s team reached out to Justice’s management in order to connect with the designer who created Justice’s logo.
While neither a member of Bieber’s legal team nor his rep responded to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment, Justice’s management claim Bieber’s legal team did “reject” the cease-and-desist letter, arguing that the singer’s logo and merchandise did not infringe on the duo’s trademark.
Both Justice and the video for Bieber's latest single, “Peaches” dropped at midnight (March 19th).
