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In a complaint filed with the U.S. District
Court in Manhattan, lawyers for ABBA accused Abba Mania's
managers of "parasitic and bad-faith conduct" by trading off
ABBA's goodwill and cachet in promoting Abba Mania.
ABBA said the defendants have ignored its demands to stop using
Abba Mania on social media, YouTube and the abbamania.com
website, or take its suggestion to use "ABBA Tribute" in a way
that won't confuse people.
The corporate defendants include Handshake Ltd of Manchester,
England, and TAL Entertainment Ltd of Bicester, England.
Neither immediately responded on Friday to requests for comment
outside business hours.
ABBA's trademark infringement lawsuit comes amid a U.S. tour for
Abba Mania, which calls itself "The Original Tribute from
London's West End!", that includes a Feb. 2022 date in
Middletown, New York, about a 90-minute drive from Manhattan.
Polar Music International AB, the named plaintiff, has handled
ABBA business affairs since the group's 1972 founding in
Stockholm. Its lawsuit also seeks a variety of damages.
Abba Mania's website says "Abba Mania is in no way associated,
affiliated, or endorsed by Polar Music or ABBA" in small capital
letters.
ABBA has sold an estimated 385 million records, and is known for
such songs as "Waterloo," "Dancing Queen," "Money, Money, Money"
and "The Winner Takes It All." It was also one of the first acts
to use music videos to promote its music.
The group last month released its first new album in 40 years,
"Voyage," and is planning a stage show featuring digital avatars
of its members, who are now in their 70s, replicating their
1970s look.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Shri
Navaratnam)
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