'Vogue' has 'an easy case' in lawsuit against Drake and 21 Savage, experts say - NPR

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, astatine the 'Chanel Cruise 2017/2018 Collection' astatine Grand Palais connected May 3, 2017 successful Paris, France. The mag is suing rappers Drake and 21 Savage for a usurpation of trademark rights. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images hide caption

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Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, astatine the 'Chanel Cruise 2017/2018 Collection' astatine Grand Palais connected May 3, 2017 successful Paris, France. The mag is suing rappers Drake and 21 Savage for a usurpation of trademark rights.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Legal experts judge the steadfast of Vogue magazine has a beardown lawsuit successful a trademark suit that could outgo rappers 21 Savage and Drake millions.

In the days starring up to the merchandise of the duo's collab album, Her Loss, rappers 21 Savage and Drake shared photos of — and aboriginal distributed — copies of a fake Vogue featuring them connected the cover. On Monday, Vogue steadfast Condé Nast filed a 30-page lawsuit alleging that the instauration of a "counterfeit mentation of possibly 1 of the astir cautiously curated covers successful each of the work business" violated the media company's trademark rights.

Condé Nast is present seeking astatine slightest $4 cardinal successful damages, oregon triple immoderate profits from the medium and the fake Vogue issues.

"I deliberation it's it's an casual lawsuit for them to win," said Barton Beebe, a instrumentality prof astatine New York University, who specializes successful intelligence spot law. "And I deliberation that they'll get the injunction, the injunctive relief, ordering the selling run to stop. It seems to maine an absorbing question would beryllium if Vogue wants to prosecute this each the mode to damages, due to the fact that they could beryllium successful the millions for this benignant of conduct."

With a suit filed conscionable days earlier, it's hard to pinpoint however the lawsuit mightiness determination forward. One enactment for Condé Nast, according to Beebe, could beryllium filing a impermanent restraining order, oregon a preliminary injunction, successful the pursuing days to halt further promotions of the fake Vogue. As of Wednesday afternoon, the archetypal station connected Drake's Instagram leafage is present gone.

And due to the fact that the rappers promoted parody contented with different media entities — specified arsenic pretending to instrumentality portion successful an NPR Tiny Desk concert and a show connected Saturday Night Live — others could travel guardant with akin lawsuits.

"They're conscionable trying to merchantability something, and they're making up fake quality to bash it," Beebe said. "And truthful it would beryllium understandable if the different targets of this media run besides brought suit."

However, the rappers could reason that trademark instrumentality "does not person a circumstantial parody defense," according to Mark P. McKenna, a instrumentality prof astatine UCLA who specializes successful intelligence spot and privateness law.

"The basal thought of trademark infringement is that the plaintiff has to amusement likelihood of confusion," McKenna said. "And so, what you spot immoderate courts sometimes accidental is, if the parody is clear, past there's not going to beryllium immoderate disorder due to the fact that radical volition recognize that it's a parody."

But the attraction generated from the suit could beryllium 1 mode to springiness much attraction to the album's release.

"That's portion of the stunt, right?" McKenna said. "There was a benignant of calculated hazard being made here. I mean, adjacent if the tribunal orders them to halt doing this, similar they've already done it, they've gotten the attention. I deliberation that's wherefore Vogue is trying to question money: to marque it achy capable for radical truthful that they won't bash it."

This is not the archetypal clip a instrumentalist has precocious faced a trademark infringement suit portion promoting a caller release.

Nike sued marque MSCHF after it collaborated with rapper Lil Nas X connected modifying Nike Air Max 97s into "Satan Shoes" that were sold astatine the aforesaid clip that the rapper released his azygous "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" successful 2021. After instantly stopping immoderate further income of the shoes, Nike yet settled the lawsuit with MSCHF.