The Beatles File Lawsuit to Stop Counterfeits

Two Beatles’-owned companies — Apple Corps Ltd. and Subafilms Ltd. — filed a lawsuit last week against nearly 50 internet dealers and aliases for “promoting, distributing and selling items that bear counterfeit logos or imitations of their respective trademarks,” Billboard reports.

Apple Corps Ltd., which Is owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison, owns the Beatles’ merchandising rights. Subafilms Ltd., similarly owned, manages the rights from the Beatles movie, ‘Yellow Submarine.’ Among the dozens of defendants named in the lawsuit are Good luck to you, GreenMango Store, HOOK ON YOU, shirtsforyou.net, and more.

In addition to selling counterfeit Beatles merchandise on their own websites, the lawsuit claims it’s also being sold on online marketplaces like eBay, Etsy, and Amazon. The merchandise includes apparel, bedding, backpacks, phone cases, backpacks, and doormats that are of “a quality substantially and materially different than that of Plaintiffs’ respective, genuine goods.” 

The lawsuit seeks injunctions to prohibit the manufacture, advertising, distribution, and sale of the goods. It also aims to block the registration and use of the domain names involved, remove the goods from third-party sites, and collect monetary damages of $2 million for each counterfeit trademark used or product sold.

As the New York Post writes: “When it comes to counterfeit goods, the Beatles will no longer let it be.” Counterfeits aside, one thing you’ll never be able to buy:

Update, May 4, 2018: According to World Intellectual Property Review, a US District court ruling “entered a final default judgment and permanent injunction against the counterfeiters.”