What’s with iconic guitarists suing people lately? First Joe Satriani, now Eddie Van Halen. He has taken some offense to Nike’s new Dunk Low line of shoes, which feature a pattern similar to the paint scheme on Van Halen’s famous “Frankenstein” guitar. According to Rolling Stone magazine, Nike unsurprisingly disputes Van Halen’s claim:
Nike’s Dunk shoe design is not substantially similar to any of the Van Halen designs, and Nike has not referenced the ‘Van Halen’ name or image as part of any marketing campaign or promotional material associated with the shoe.
Once again, only the lawyers will end up winning with this lawsuit.
To be fair, the design is very similar to Eddie’s so I think that it makes sense to sue.
However, the comments he made in a statement saying the NYX sneaker did “irreparable harm and damage” to his design is complete bullshit. C’mon Ed; they just ripped off your design. It’s not like the 80’s where everybody ripped off your playing style too! Harsh yes, but you know it’s true.
There is a silver-lined cloud to all this if you happen to own the offensive pair of sneaks since Ed wants not only a cut but “the impoundment and destruction of all footwear.”
Although I didn’t notice it at first because I’m not a sneaker aficionado, but Ed’s shoes do look a lot Converse All-Stars. Almost too alike if you catch my drift…
All that “irreperable harm” crap is just lawyerspeak. Unfortunately, to sue somebody you gotta get a lawyer involved. He trademarked the design, Nike copied it. He deserves to get paid. I’d sue too. People tried to copy his designs and music from day one. His guitar, Ton Loc stole the beginning of Jamie’s Cryin for his lame one-hit song. Maybe he got tired of giving shit away. If somebody else wants to make money off Eddie’s design, Eddie should get paid too.
Go get ’em Ed (and Joe).
Intellectual rights are valid. The pattern/design came from Ed’s mind. Ed makes his money from creating. Ed has the money to protect his work. It’s unfortunate that a company as wealthy as nike wouldn’t have respected that. I’m sure they have their fare share of lawyers at work on their behalf.