http://www.amazon.com/exe...c&n=507846


Fenix TX's Homage To Prince Gets Them A Cease-And-Desist Letter
11.03.2005 5:59 PM EST

Band ordered to alter album art featuring musician's symbol merged with a Slayer logo.

This week, a cease-and-desist letter from Prince's attorneys was delivered to the management offices of the reunited, Houston-based punk outfit Fenix TX. The letter may transform the band's forthcoming live album, Purple Reign in Blood, into an unintended collectors' item.

It seems the singer is not pleased with the band's use of the androgynous and unpronounceable glyph that has long served as the artist's symbol — and, for a time, his name. He may be even less pleased that the symbol has been merged with the pentagram-like Slayer logo that graced the cover of the metal band's classic 1986 LP, Reign in Blood. Either way, Fenix TX needs to come up with an alternate cover for Purple Reign in Blood.

Frontman Willie Salazar said the letter arrived after 30,000 copies of the album were pressed, printed and loaded onto trucks that then began lumbering toward the nation's music retailers. Thus, when Purple Reign in Blood hits stores on November 8, it will still feature the artwork that peeved Prince's camp.

"We're trying to play nice, and it was just our way of trying to let people in on what kind of music we like, and the range between Prince and Slayer," Salazar said. "We were surprised — but then again, we're no strangers to cease and desist orders."

Salazar is referring to the band's original name, Riverfenix. Although actor River Phoenix had died two years before the band formed in 1995, that didn't stop Phoenix's estate from threatening legal action against the group.

Fenix TX had split up back in 2002, but regrouped this summer for a single gig, which they'd planned on recording and releasing in the form of Purple Reign. That one show rekindled the band's desire to play together, and led to the band's current reunion tour, which runs through December 4 in Chicago. Salazar said the band is even open to the idea of recording and releasing a new studio album, which could surface in 2006. But first, they've got a legal matter to address.

"It kind of made perfect sense to us to use the symbol, and it was almost like we were just letting him know we really liked his music," the singer said with seeming innocence. "He's a musician we grew up with."

A representative for Prince had no comment on the matter.

— Chris Harris
[Edited 11/3/05 15:51pm]

Well, the man has to protect his copyrights. But for sure this Fenix TX band's sales will receive a sudden boost thanks to this news...

Peace.

Didn't Prince 'borrow' his symbol anyway?

Soapstone anyone?

It's about the Religion with Blood and Satan Stuff. Prince wouldn't LIKE SATANISM or BLOOD....Makes Sense.

Zelaira said:

it really makes sense

Enigmoid said:

Not only that he gave up the coypright when he distrubted the font without the tm symbol along with some other legal instances. I remember reading a pretty convincing article saying that he didn't have much of a leg to stand on if it went to court with a competant attorney. Unfortunately most of the people Prince sue have nowhere near the deep pockets he has so they can't really fight him.

But yeah he also borrowed it

Thought he was 'back to Prince' now and had nothing to do with the 'symbol' anymore And the symbol IS backwards in the artwork???

Damn, make up your mind.

jthad1129 said:

Using your logic, Paul McCartney would have no rights to the name "Wings",
Corporate law is intricate, as is Trademark legislation. You're all assuming Prince gave the tm up, which I don't believe he did. Don't forget albums are still being sold under the o+> logo

Here we go again. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.

That's why the PRINCE COSTUME was PULLED at TARGET....The RELIGION and Him Not wanting them to sell it. Use the Name. I Understand..

Is this the cover in question?

Zelaira said:

The Prince costume wasn't pulled at our local Targets. We didn't go as Prince, but we saw them on sale.

I can understand the man.

The cover looks satanic and angry. And the man is not.

One has to wonder what the music is vs the album title vs cover art. Why would anyone want to take his symbol and put it on their album. If they like Prince...isn't it sorta blasphemy?

PurpleRein said:

He doesn't have rights to the word 'wings'. Buffalo wings, chicken wings, aiplane wings. And there is no tm for the backwards symbol. Kinda like if I am naked on an album cover with a flower behind me, he can't say

I don't think people will get confused that it 'might be a new Prince cd.'
He is not getting de-famed (he has done that to himself) and the public will not run out to buy this new cd thinking it is Prince related.

superspaceboy said:

they may not see it that way. they might just see it as an homage to a pop culture legend. let's not forget, not EVERYONE is as up on prince's beliefs and sensibilities as us folks in purpleland.

I wish Prince worked as hard as his lawyers.

I'm glad, FUCK this album

shygirl said:

They were featured in an ad 2 weeks agao and were still available on clearance yesterday. I'm not quite where she got the information from.

i don't blame him. the is basically synonymous to Prince and will always be associated with him, even if it's not his official name. i wouldn't want my "name" plastered all over something that i had nothing to do with. fenix tx says it's because they like his music, but you know it's also a marketing ploy. they could have chosen a different way to illustrate their 'admiration'--like a parody of a cover or a simple sentence in the liner notes or something...

technically, though, isn't it only the lower half of the prince symbol? i mean, okay, DUH, we all know what they're trying to replicate, but couldn't they legally get off by saying it's not the full symbol?

yeah, i know...reaching.

i think the only thing Prince has to stand on here is that there's a definite connection with him through the use of BOTH the symbol and the words "Purple Reign" -- otherwise, I don't see how Prince could win -- he doesn't OWN the soapstone part of the symbol, does he?

a2grafix said:

That's actually pretty cool.



Whatever though. He's got the right -the Symbol is a copyrighted logo.

jthad1129 said:

Prince's symbol is copyrighted..

Pickett v. Prince is worth a read when thinking about this new album
http://www.coolcopyright....cetext.htm

"The symbol (which rather strikingly resembles the Egyptian hieroglyph ankh,
see Richard H. Wilkinson, Symbol & Magic in Egyptian Art 159, 169 (fig. 128)
(1994), but the parties make [**2] nothing of this, so neither shall we) is his
trademark but it is also a copyrighted work of visual art that licensees of
Prince have embodied in various forms, [*404] including jewelry, clothing, and
musical instruments. Although Prince did not register a copyright of the symbol
until 1997, the plaintiff concedes that Prince obtained a valid copyright in
1992.....

.... We need not pursue the issue of originality of derivative works. The
Copyright [**9] Act grants the owner of a copyright the exclusive right to
prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work. 17 U.S.C. sec. 106
(2); Lee v. A.R.T. Co., [*406] supra, 125 F.3d at 581; Gracen v. Bradford
Exchange, supra, 698 F.2d at 302; Atari, Inc. v. North American Philips Consumer
Electronics Corp., 672 F.2d 607, 618 n. 12 (7th Cir. 1982); Micro Star v.
Formgen Inc., 154 F.3d 1107, 1110 (9th Cir. 1998). So Pickett could not make a
derivative work based on the Prince symbol without Prince's authorization even
if Pickett's guitar had a smidgeon of originality. This is a sensible result. A
derivative work is, by definition, bound to be very similar to the original...."



.
[Edited 11/3/05 19:04pm]

Snap said:

Of course not, but that's like saying HIM (Gods that band is annoying) don't have the right to bitch if someone rips off their heart/pentacle-looking symbol because they didn't come up with the parts that make up the whole picture themselves.

Prince didn't invent the male symbol, the female symbol, or the soapstone symbol, but he did come up with the and have it copyrighted.

didn't he already go to court over this same thing and lose once before? the court determined that his symbol was a derivation of a pre-existing symbol, therefore he could not own the copyright on it....

Tessa said:

no read above. Prince has the copyright, he won that case.

Anxiety said:

actually you're not, because if they're only using the lower half, it's the lower half that Prince actually ripped off. it's the symbol for soapstone turned 45 degrees.

Tessa said:

the lower half in combination with that circle on top, hell a bad lawyer could win Prince's case

Universaluv said:

The cd has shipped, nothing will happen. He can't stop bootlegers from using his image, symbol or unreleased tracks and he will not touch this case. The 'cease and desist' is exactly that, 'Please stop using my symbol or we will go to court.'

Just ship 2 million cds and say 'we won't do it again.'

sucka!