Legendary rock band The Velvet Underground sued the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts today in a dispute over the “iconic” banana image from its ground-breaking debut album.
Band members Lou Reed and John Cale say the foundation, established after the 1987 death of the famed pop artist, illegally licensed the logo for use on iPad cases and accessories as part of a greedy effort to exploit the “goodwill” generated by their influential combo.
The Manhattan federal court filing accuses the foundation of trying to “deceive the public” into thinking the Velvets gave their “sponsorship or approval” to the products, which include a $149.95 shoulder bag and a $59.95 protective sleeve.
Warhol, who served as the band’s manager and producer, created the cover for its 1966 album “The Velvet Underground and Nico” using a banana image taken from “an advertisement in the public domain,” court papers say.
The artist even got a split of the band’s $3,000 advance for the record “in consideration for his furnishing the illustration” that adorns what Rolling Stone magazine has ranked the 13th “Greatest Album of All Time,” according to the suit.
But while Warhol never copyrighted the design — which included the words “PEEL SLOWLY AND SEE” near the stem — his musical proteges say it’s since become “a symbol, truly an icon, of The Velvet Underground.”
The band “expressly” noted the banana logo as its trademark in the booklet for a 5-CD box set released in 1995, and later licensed its use in a 2001 Absolut Vodka ad bearing the tag line “Absolut Underground,” in which the stem was stylized to look like a bottle top.
“VU’s use and application of the design to symbolize the group and its whole body of work has been exclusive, continuous and uninterrupted for more than 25 years,” the suit says.
“As a result, the symbol has become so identified with The Velvet Underground…that members of the public, and particularly those who listen to rock music, immediately recognize the banana design as the symbol of The Velvet Underground.”
The Manhattan federal court filing — which seeks unspecified damages for trademark infringement and unfair competition — notes that the foundation owns more than $120 million worth of Warhol’s art, and makes more than $2.5 million a year licensing various images.
“Inasmuch as the Warhol Foundation has such a large number of Andy Warhol designs, all of which are presumably unique works that are highly valued in the marketplace, there would appear to be no economic need to include the banana design among the designs that defendant licenses,” court papers say.
The suit further charges that the “only reason” to license the image “is to capitalize on the goodwill established by VU and vested in the symbol.”
“It is not merely the graphic reproduction by Andy Warhol of a piece of fruit: it is the ‘iconic’ VU banana,” according to the suit.
A spokeswoman for the Warhol Foundation declined to comment.