If you’ve been alive for the last few days, you can’t fail to have missed the news that the British One Direction are being sued by an American band also named One Direction.
The Californian group claim that they chose the name back in 2009, and it wasn’t until 2010 that Simon Cowell and co decided to create a new group on the UK X Factor competition with the same name.
The USA 1D are now suing their Brit colleagues after claiming they have been ignored in all efforts so far to reach a compromise, and have recently spoke out on their blog, saying:
“Despite our best efforts, we were unable to negotiate a reasonable compromise with the handlers for the band. The group, which has released two albums, claim rights to the trademark “One Direction” in the US, and said their rivals knew about their claim since last spring. They chose not to use a different name. They chose to press ahead, using the exact same name, setting up the current difficulties and confusion in the United States.”
A source close to Simon Cowell has revealed that he will do everything in his power to keep the name, claiming: “One Direction are fast becoming the biggest boy band on the planet and Simon is not about to let anything jeopardise their success. He plans to fight the lawsuit tooth and nail.”
US1D (as we’ll now call them) are fighting for $1 million in damages, as well as three times the profits that UK1D have made so far, as well as the right to use their name.
Dan O’Leary, the band’s manager, angrily said to The Sun: “We won’t be pushed around. I don’t care how powerful Simon Cowell is. He’s mad if he thinks we’re going to lie down, sit down or back down over this – whatever power and money he has behind him. “
UK X Factor viewers will remember how Rhythmix were forced to change their name to Little Mix after discovering a charity was already using that name, but later went onto win the competition. It seems unimaginable that UK1D will be forced to change their name, and we predict an out-of-court settlement will be the order of the day.
The alternative – choosing a new name – and rebranding the entire stock of CD’s, DVD’s, books and merchandise, not to mention the loss of brand identity seems a choice nobody want to take.
The papers for the lawsuit were filed on Monday, and also reveal that US1D had applied for a trademark back in February 2011.
Tit for tat! That’s what we say!
Would this be happening if the British One Direction weren’t so big and successful. It’s all about the money…….
Remind yourself which band you like best in the videos below. Watch Liam, Harry, Zayn, Louis & Niall singing “One Thing” on SNL:
And here’s a video by US1D – their song “Dreaming”. What do you think?
PS. We actually quite like this song!
