ABBA sue “parasitic” British tribute band Abba Mania
A lawsuit claims ABBA gave the tribute act a chance to change their name but they refused
ABBA have filed a lawsuit against a “parasitic” UK-based tribute band called Abba Mania for trademark infringement.
As Billboard report, the Swedish pop legends are suing Abba Mania for behaviour they allege is “parasitic” and in “bad faith”, adding that they believe the tribute act were misleading fans into assuming that the performers were endorsed by ABBA themselves.
The lawsuit reads: “Defendants include the term ‘official’ and ‘original’ in many of their marketing materials, website pages, and social media handles, which gives consumers the impression that there is some kind of association, affiliation, or sponsorship between ABBA and ABBA MANIA.
“In an attempt to amicably resolve this dispute, [ABBA] explained how defendants could properly use the phrase ‘ABBA Tribute’ in a non-confusing manner to describe their tribute act so long as the actual name of the tribute act did not include the word ABBA,” it added. “But Defendants refused to comply and cease use of the name ABBA MANIA.”
Last week (December 3), ABBA released their first ever Christmas single, titled ‘Little Things’, and pledged to donate all proceeds to Unicef in order to help support the Global Child Protection Fund.
“We think it is impossible to eradicate poverty without the empowerment of women,” ABBA members Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid said. “That’s why we support Unicef in protecting girls from sexual violence and empowering them through the Global Child Protection Fund.”
ABBA have officially reached 10 Number 1 albums with the release of ‘Voyage’ after their latest record sold more than 204,000 copies in the first seven days after it was released.
“We are so happy that our fans seem to have enjoyed our new album as much as we enjoyed making it!” the band told Official Charts in a statement. “We are absolutely over the moon to have an album at the top of the charts again!”