.

Lady Gaga Sues to Control Her Name

Chicago company marketing unauthorized Gaga products

September 29, 2011 9:05 AM ET
lady gaga iheartradio las vegas
Lady Gaga at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.
Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Lady Gaga has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court against Excite Worldwide, a Chicago company that has been marketing a line of jewelry and cosmetics called Lady Gaga by Design. Despite the name, the singer has nothing to do with the products, and she wants to eliminate confusion in the market as she develops her own officially endorsed products, including candles, bags, lanyards, tattoos and wigs.

Photos: Lady Gaga's Best Looks
Gaga's lawyers have also accused Excite Worldwide of filing frivolous trademark applications, which have slowed down her own attempts to trademark her name, likeness and assorted iconography.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

prev
Music Main Next

blog comments powered by Disqus
Daily Newsletter

Get the latest RS news in your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Rolling Stone newsletter and special offers from RS and its
marketing partners.

X

We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.

Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »