Skip to Search Skip to Live Player Skip to Content Skip to Footer

Nirvana Smiley Face Logo Lawsuit Finally Ends

Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter

The Nirvana smiley face logo lawsuit has finally ended after being in litigation since 2018.

Per NME and Rolling Stone, the legal matter was settled and confirmed in a July 9 court filing. A proper settlement agreement will be drafted in the next three weeks. The lawsuit involved Nirvana, designer/brand Marc Jacobs and graphic artist Robert Fisher.

Nirvana LLC originally filed suit against Jacobs in December 2018. The lawsuit itself stems from Jacobs’ alleged unauthorized use of the Nirvana smiley face logo in his “Redux Grunge Collection.”

In November 2019, Billboard reported the lawsuit would move forward per a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge John Kronstadt. Shortly thereafter, Jacobs and fellow defendants Saks Incorporated and Neiman Marcus tried to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Attorneys for Jacobs argued that the case should be thrown out of court because the copyrighted Nirvana logo, “…includes the word ‘Nirvana’. The Accused Products do not. The [copyrighted logo] includes the Flower Sniffin Writing. The Accused Products do not. The [copyrighted logo] includes a smiley face with Xs as eyes. The Accused Products do not; they use a different letter for each eye, the letters M and J, signifying Marc Jacobs.” (Photos of the Nirvana happy face logo and the Jacobs version can be seen here.)

Then, in September 2020, Fisher entered the lawsuit and claimed he actually created Nirvana’s smiley face logo.

Cobain has been credited with creating the logo, but Fisher refutes this in detail. In the motion filed by Fisher, he said he was working at Geffen Records before Nirvana was signed. He was a fan of the band and requested if he could work with the band on the upcoming design of their new album, Nevermind. He said he not only worked with the band to come up with the iconic album art for Nevermind, but he was “…Nirvana’s go-to person for almost all of its graphic design needs.” Fisher also claims to have had a working relationship with the band after the band dissolved following Cobain’s untimely death and after moving on from working at Geffen Records.

Fisher details the various techniques he used to come up with the logo, which he claims came to be after being asked “…to come up with more retail-friendly merchandise.”

Inge De Bruyn, Fisher lawyer, told Billboard in a statement, “The rule in copyright is that the individual creator of a work is to be considered its author and original owner. That really is the basic premise…And the situation is such that if Robert does not assert his rights now, he risks losing them forever.”

Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights

10 Unplugged Albums Everyone Should Own

  • Nirvana - ‘MTV Unplugged in New York’ (1994)

    Recorded just five months before the untimely passing of Kurt Cobain, Nirvana’s performance would later be released as the live LP MTV Unplugged in New York.  It was Nirvana’s first release following Cobain’s death, and it would go on to win the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.

  • Alice In Chains - ‘MTV Unplugged’ (1996)

    Equal parts extraordinary and bitter-sweet, AIC’s 1996 performance on MTV Unplugged was the band’s first performance together in over two years due to Layne Staley’s issues with drug abuse.  It would also be one of the band’s last high-profile gigs with Staley. In spite of that and Jerry Cantrell famously battling food poisoning, AIC’s set served as a reminder of why they were the first band to really break out of the fruitful Seattle music scene. 

  • Rod Stewart - ‘Unplugged...and Seated’ (1993)

    Stewart’s appearance on MTV Unplugged also featured former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood and marked the first time in about two decades they shared the stage together. The album features unplugged versions of some of Stewart’s biggest hits, including “Hot Legs” and “Maggie May.” The LP also features moving covers of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready” and Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately.”

     

  • Eric Clapton - ‘Unplugged’ (1992)

    Clapton’s Unplugged was a massive commercial and critical success. The LP won three Grammy Awards in 1993: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song for the acoustic version of “Layla” and Album of the Year. Clapton’s Unplugged has sold a whopping 26 million copies worldwide. Of course, we’d be remiss in not mentioning the Unplugged version of “Tears in Heaven,” which remains devastatingly moving to this day.

     

  • Page and Plant - ‘No Quarter: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded’ (1994)

    No Quarter was a 90-minute special for MTV featuring a reunited Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. While there were some electric elements, this performance also received some extra oomph thanks to string and orchestra musicians local to Morocco, Wales and London where the special had been recorded. A number of Led Zeppelin tunes made up the tracklisting including “Kashmir,” “The Battle of Evermore” and “That’s The Way.” 

     

  • Pearl Jam - ‘MTV Unplugged’ (2020)

    Pearl Jam simply crushes it in this set from March 1992, about seven months after the release of Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten. The band’s Unplugged set would finally get an official release as part of Record Store Day in 2019.

     

  • KISS - ‘KISS Unplugged’ (1996)

    KISS’ 1995 appearance on Unplugged featured the four original band members on stage together for the first time since the late ’70s. It was so popular that it led to KISS’ famed 1996 reunion tour.

  • Bob Dylan - ‘MTV Unplugged’ (1995)

    The iconic singer-songwriter recorded his performance for MTV Unplugged in November 1994. The album release of the performance came out in May 1995 and featured some of Dylan’s biggest songs including “The Times They Are a-Changin’.”

  • Neil Young - ‘Unplugged’ (1993)

    Recorded in February 1993 and released just four months later, Young’s Unplugged set also featured some of his most classic tunes. Among them were “Harvest Moon” and “The Needle and the Damage Done.”

  • Paul McCartney - ‘Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)’ (1991)

    Fun fact about Sir Paul’s appearance on Unplugged: It was completely unplugged.  Most other performances featured artists playing acoustically with the help of amps. It was also one of the first performances in the show’s history.

     

Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter
Category:
Tags:

More Music

Load More