Nirvana, Marc Jacobs to Settle Dispute Over Band’s Smiley Face

July 9, 2024, 11:29 PM UTC

Marc Jacobs International LLC, Nirvana LLC, and the purported creator of the rock band’s “smiley face” logo settled a years-long copyright lawsuit over the fashion company’s alleged misuse of the logo.

The parties reached an agreement after a June 28 settlement conference and are in the process of drafting a more detailed agreement, according to a report filed Tuesday in the US District for the Central District of California. Settlement specifics weren’t included in the report.

The remaining members of Nirvana sued Marc Jacobs, as well as retailers Saks Inc. and Neiman Marcus Group Ltd., in 2018, accusing the parties of selling clothing with a logo “obviously similar to, and an intentional copy of” the band’s smiley face created by late frontman Kurt Cobain.

Robert Fisher, a Los Angeles designer who worked with Nirvana in the 1990s, intervened in the case in 2020. He claimed to have designed the smiley face as part of a t-shirt for Nirvana in 1991. Nirvana registered the copyright for the logo in 1993.

Trial was set to be scheduled during a July 15 conference.

Rimon PC and Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP represent Nirvana. Kelley Drye & Warren LLP represents Marc Jacobs. Modo Law PC represents Fisher.

The case is Nirvana LLC v. Marc Jacobs Int’l LLC, C.D. Cal., No. 18-cv-10743, 7/9/24.


To contact the reporter on this story: Annelise Gilbert at agilbert1@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kartikay Mehrotra at kmehrotra@bloombergindustry.com

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