NEW YORK (Reuters) – Swedish pop supergroup ABBA on Friday filed a lawsuit to prevent a UK cover band known as Abba Mania from using that name.
In a lawsuit filed with the US District Court in Manhattan, lawyers for ABBA accused the executives of Abba Mania of “parasitic conduct and bad faith” by trading ABBA’s goodwill and cachet in the promotion of ‘Abba Mania.
ABBA said the defendants ignored his requests to stop using Abba Mania on social media, YouTube and the abbamania.com website, or to accept his suggestion to use “ABBA Tribute” in a way that does not not confuse people.
The defendant companies include Handshake Ltd of Manchester, England, and TAL Entertainment Ltd of Bicester, England.
Neither of them immediately responded to requests for comment outside of business hours on Friday.
ABBA’s trademark infringement lawsuit comes as part of a US tour for Abba Mania, which calls itself “The Original Tribute from London’s West End!” Which features a February 2022 date in Middletown, New York, about a 90 minute drive to Manhattan.
Polar Music International AB, the named applicant, has been handling the business affairs of ABBA since the group was founded in 1972 in Stockholm. His lawsuit also targets a variety of damages.
The Abba Mania website states “Abba Mania is in no way associated, affiliated or endorsed by Polar Music or ABBA” in small capital letters.
ABBA has sold approximately 385 million records and is known for songs such as “Waterloo”, “Dancing Queen”, “Money, Money, Money” and “The Winner Takes It All”. They were also one of the first groups to use music videos to promote their music.
The group released their first new album in 40 years, “Voyage” last month, and are planning a stage show featuring the digital avatars of its members, who are now 70, replicating their 1970s look.
Report by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Shri Navaratnam
