Three months ago, Justin Bieber revealed the album artwork for his for most recent album, Justice. At the time, Ed Banger Records, the label representing French duo Justice, shared an image of the original concept design for the artists’ logo and it looked frighteningly similar. As it turns out, that wasn’t quite as much a coincidence as it would have originally seemed.
In a statement to SPIN at the time, Justice’s management said, “Bieber’s team emailed us in May of 2020, asking to be looped in with Justice’s graphic designer to discuss a logo. We tried to set up a call between Bieber’s team and our designer, but the call was never completed and the conversation ended there. No one ever mentioned an album called Justice or a logo that says Justice. The first time we saw anything about it was the announcement.”
Now, Justice’s Gaspard Augé has himself publicly commented on the similarity.
“Obviously, we don’t own the word ‘Justice’ and we don’t own the cross. But [Bieber’s] management got in touch first to ask where our logo came from, so it’s not some unhappy coincidence. To me, it’s a very conscious rip-off. And that’s where the problem is,” Justice’s Gaspard Augé said in interview with The Guardian published on Saturday (June 26).
“Though Bieber is from Canada, his actions fit this mindset of American hegemony: ‘Oh well, it’s just a small band from France, I’m sure we can take their name, nobody will care,’” said Augé.
Bieber’s team rejected a cease and desist letter, according to a report from Rolling Stone.
Currently, the dispute has not been resolved and it’s not entirely clear whether Justice — the group — will continue to pursue action against Bieber for the alleged infringement.
via Billboard | Photo via aLIVE Coverage for Life Is Beautiful
