One Direction is a terrible awful group, and is attempting to pick up the reigns The Jonas Brothers dropped just a few years back. It was a nice respite, but here the cheesy boy band generic-inclined boys come back in the form of the 14 year olds in “One Direction.” But wait- can fans of good music have comfort? One Direction is being sued by another group called One Direction for damages to their name and trademark infringement.
The California based One Direction claims the boy pop group stole their name, which they trademarked about a year before the boys of One Direction were born (met, I meant met).
US layers representing California One Direction are blocking the pop group from using the name, until the situation is settled. They say the group are causing “substantial confusion and substantial damage” to their image, and I can’t say I blame them. I went to download One Direction music and accidentally bought an album called Up All Night, apparently the pop group’s debut LP released on Columbia.
The label, Syco, and group behind the pop band have this to say:
“There is a dispute with a local group in California about the ownership of the One Direction name in the US. One Direction’s management tried to resolve the situation amicably when the matter first came to light, but the Californian group has now filed a lawsuit claiming they own the name.
One Direction’s lawyers now have no choice but to defend the lawsuit and the band’s right to use their name.”
We can only expect that One Direction (U.K.) will fade into the seeder underbelly of suburban Britain they came from, and the American U.S. based One Direction will sell a few copies of their self-released e.p on Itunes. One can only hope.
Image Source: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid, One Direction 2011
