Lady Gaga Defeats Lawsuit That Claimed ‘Mayhem’ Album Name Infringed a Surfboard Brand
A judge cited the First Amendment to end a case claiming Gaga's album name represented a “blatant disregard” for an existing line of Mayhem surfboards.
Lady Gaga has successfully defended against a lawsuit that alleged her Mayhem album infringed upon the trademarks of a surf company called Lost Surfboards, which sells a brand of Mayhem surfboards. Lost Surfboards filed the lawsuit last year, arguing that consumers might mistakenly associate the album with the surf company due to the similar name.
However, a judge ruled on August 18 that the case was too weak to proceed. The judge cited the First Amendment, which protects free speech, including the use of trademarks in creative works like music, films, and books. The judge stated that Lady Gaga's album name did not mislead consumers into thinking it was connected to Lost Surfboards or its Mayhem surfboards.
Lost Surfboards had claimed that the album name was a "blatant disregard" of their trademark rights and that the stylized red logo used on the album and merchandise was highly similar to the one on the surfboards. However, U.S. courts have historically made it difficult to sue over the use of trademarks in expressive works, requiring a very strong case of intentional deception.
Legal experts noted that Lady Gaga's lawyers successfully argued that the case did not meet the necessary standard for a trademark infringement claim, emphasizing that nothing in the lawsuit suggested or indicated any misrepresentation of the source or content of Lady Gaga's work.
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