Interesting: This is from the statement of facts in Pickett v. Prince, 52 F.Supp.2d 893 -- check out fn 4!!! -- then for a laugh, check out FN 5 where the court makes fun of prince's duality

The facts relevant to this motion are largely undisputed. Defendant is a well-known recording artist, performer, and songwriter of popular music.Around 1990, Defendant created and began using a symbol (the "First Symbol") based solely on the male and female signs. [FN5] The First Symbol appeared on the cover of the "Graffiti Bridge" album, which was released on August 21, 1990. (Def.Aff. ¶ 2, Ex. A to Defendant's Memorandum of Law in Support of Summary Judgment Submitted Pursuant to the Court's March 15, 1999 Request (hereinafter "Def. Motion").) Shortly thereafter, Defendant hired Elisabeth Schoening, a freelance artist, to embellish the symbol (the "Embellished Symbol" or "Symbol") for the release of a single entitled "7" by combining the First Symbol with a drawing of the number "7" (reproduced at the end of this opinion as Figure 1). (Id. ¶ 4; Schoening Aff. ¶¶ 3-4, Ex. C to Def. Motion.) The Symbol was included on Defendant's "Androgynous" album, which was released on October 13, 1992. (Def.Aff.¶ 5.) In December 1992, Defendant adopted the Symbol as his name.

FN4. Defendant's popularity is evidenced by various publications and fan clubs devoted to him. One such magazine is Uptown, an "independent
and uncensored magazine exploring the world of the Artist formerly known as Prince." http://www. uptown.se/99/uptown/html. Another is prince.org, an unauthorized, unofficial, independent fansite that includes, among other things, the latest news about Defendant, events, and links to other fan associations around the world. See http://www. prince.org./main/html.



FN5. Defendant's fans were perhaps not surprised by Defendant's eventual adoption of this symbol, with its prototype combining the male and female signs. For example, the then-Prince wrote in his 1984 "I Would Die 4 U": "I'm not a woman. I'm not a man. I am something that you'll never understand."



FN6. The record does not disclose whether the name change was accomplished through legal proceedings or informal adoption.


It is fair to say that the Symbol is recognized throughout the United States and around the world as designating Defendant. Defendant has incorporated the Symbol into a variety of items he uses in performance, ranging from his clothing, jewelry, stage props, and musical instruments. Notably, Kenneth Yould, an industrial art designer, designed a musical percussion instrument for Paisley Park Enterprises, Inc., Defendant's company, back in 1991. (Yould Dep., at 9-12, Ex. H to Def. Motion.) The instrument, called a Tamboracca, was a hexagon-shaped instrument that integrated the First Symbol into its design (reproduced at the end of this opinion as Figure 2). (Id.) In the latter part of 1991, Mr. Yould also designed a guitar in the shape of the First Symbol. (Id. at 25.) This design was later modified in late 1992 to include the Embellished Symbol. (Id. at 36.) Apparently, Mr. Yould did not register copyrights in the two musical instruments. Defendant did not obtain a copyright in the Symbol itself until June 27, 1997. (See Copyright Registration, Ex. F to Def. Motion.)


Plaintiff is a well-known guitar maker and self-proclaimed fan of Defendant. As an expression of his admiration for Defendant, Plaintiff created a guitar in the shape of the Symbol sometime in 1993 (reproduced at the end of this opinion as Figure 3), with hopes that he would be able to sell it to Defendant, thereby enhancing his own reputation as a guitar maker. Pickett, 1997 WL 790599, at *2. Plaintiff claims that he showed the guitar to Defendant in 1993, but Defendant denies that he ever encountered either Plaintiff or the Symbol-guitar. While the parties dispute whether such a meeting ever took place, it is uncontested that Defendant did not purchase Plaintiff's Symbol-guitar. Plaintiff's disappointment must have turned to indignant rage when he later learned that Defendant was actually performing on tour during April 1993 with a Symbol-shaped guitar. Plaintiff filed his original, pro se complaint claiming fraud and consumer fraud on May 24, 1994, and in his Second Amended Complaint on September 10, 1996, he alleged copyright infringement of his rights in the guitar. He does not claim to own a copyright in the Symbol itself.
[1] It is undisputed that Plaintiff had seen the Symbol on Defendant's album covers before he conceived of the idea to design the Symbol-shaped guitar. (Pickett Dep., at 42-43, Ex. E to Def. Motion.) His copyright applications with the U.S. Copyright Office for the guitar are consistent with that fact. On August 27, 1996, Plaintiff filed a copyright application, which described the guitar as a three-dimensional sculptural work. (Guitar Copyright Registration, Ex. M to Def. Motion.) In a Supplementary Registration filed on February 3, 1999, he amplified the copyright to identify the guitar as based on or incorporating elements of the pre-existing "two-dimensional graphic symbol of Prince Rogers Nelson." (Id.) In other words, the guitar is a derivative work based on and incorporating Defendant's now copyrighted Symbol. [FN8] It is also undisputed that he never received permission from Defendant to use the Symbol in his work. Defendant urges that Plaintiff's failure to do so renders his own copyright invalid.

please hamm'a dont hurt em...