Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Courtney Love and Frances Bean Cobain to be called as witnesses in Nirvana's Marc Jacobs lawsuit

14 May 2019, 17:58

The surviving members of Nirvana and their late frontman Kurt Cobain's widow and daughter have reportedly been brought into the lawsuit.

Nirvana's surviving members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic have reportedly been called in as witnesses in the Marc Jacobs lawsuit alongside Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain's daughter Frances Bean.

Earlier this year it was reported that Nirvana L.L.C were suing the fashion brand for copying the famous smiley face logo for their "Redux Grunge Collection".

Now, according to The Blast, the Foo Fighters frontman and his former bandmate are among those being called by the designer as witnesses in the case.

See the two designs side by side below:

READ MORE: What does the Nirvana smiley face logo mean and where is it from?

The outlet reveals that Nirvana L.L.C believes they are owed £1 million in damages from Marc Jacobs, but the designer has defended himself by arguing he brought grunge fashion into the mainstream in the 90s and that Nirvana L.L.C's happy face copyright is invalid.

AltPress also reports that Marc Jacobs' attorneys have argued that the logo (which is referred to as The '166 Registration), wasn't copied and has enough significant differences to stand alone.

They say: "The '166 Registration includes the word “Nirvana.” The Accused Products do not. The '166 Registration includes the Flower Sniffin Writing. The Accused Products do not. The ‘166 Registration includes a smiley face with Xs as eyes. The Accused Products do not; they use a different letter for each eye, the letters M and J, signifying Marc Jacobs.

"The only similarity between what is covered by the 166 Registration and the artwork contained on the Accused Products that can be gleaned from the Complaint is the use of a substantially circular outline for the smiley face and a squiggly line used for a mouth, with a tongue sticking out."

According to the outlet, Jacobs also argues that both Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain's daughter Frances "liked" and commented on images of the designs on Instagram.

READ MORE: Frances Bean Cobain opens up about the impact of her father's suicide

Watch Frances Bean Cobain perform her original song: