Lady Gaga has secured an injunction against the release of a song by a little monster named “Lady Goo Goo”. Lady Goo Goo, a character from the on line Moshi Monsters game is a parody of Lady Gaga. Lady Goo Goo, a Youtube sensation with the song the “Moshi Dance” has clocked up some 5 million hits. However, when the song was released on iTunes, Lady Gaga’s company, Ate My Heart Inc, applied for the injunction.
The case was decided by Mr Justice Vos in the High Court. Ate My Heart relied on its registered trade mark for the name “Lady Gaga”. This registration included, sound recordings and music. Mr Justice Vos found that there was a risk of confusion comparing the marks “Lady Gaga” and “Lady Goo Goo” and granted the injunction which bans Moshi Monsters from "promoting, advertising, selling, distributing or otherwise making available to the public The Moshi Dance or any musical work or video that purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo." The singer, who calls her fans her “Little Monsters” appears to have lacked a sense of humour when it came to a parody from Lady Goo Goo, the Moshling. The Moshi Monsters game is owned by Mind Candy Ltd and has some 50 Million users worldwide. The Managing Director of Mind Candy has been quoted expressing his disappointment at this decision to grant an injunction saying that children would be able to tell the difference between the two characters. Interestingly, while recommendations have been made for changing copyright laws to allow for parodies, no such changes have been introduced and last year's viral hit Newport State of Mind – a parody of Alicia Keys and Jay-Z's successful single New York State of Mind – was forced off YouTube after the seven co-writers of the original song declined to give their permission for this use of their intellectual property and threatened copyright infringement.
In England and Wales, there are no specific “personality rights” to protect the names of famous people and so Lady Gaga sought protection by applying for her stage name as a registered trade mark which placed her in a stronger position to claim infringement then an action for passing off where it is necessary to show goodwill and a reputation in your name. Earlier this year, Lady Gaga threatened legal action against Baby Gaga (a company making ice-cream from breast milk, blended with lemon and vanilla) on the basis that they were cashing in on her brand and image - this would have been a difficult action in the absence of some form of trade mark right.
For further information please contact Naazneen Schmittzehe on 0207 355 6045 or e-mail: nschmittzehe@hamlins.co.uk