Madonna’s new fragrance “Truth or Dare By Madonna.” (AP)
Australian artist RJ Williams is threatening legal action against Madonna, claiming that the Material Girl stole a logo he has used for the past eight years.
Williams claims that the logo used for Madonna’s new fragrance, Truth or Dare — released by Coty — looks highly familiar to him, as he designed it years ago to sell his clothing line. Williams claims to have had the logo trademarked last year.
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“Friends from all over the world have been calling me upon seeing the Truth or Dare by Madonna campaign to express their disgust and support,” Williams tells Australia’s The Sunday Telegraph. “It’s about my integrity as an artist. I do not think it should be able to be used by a giant cosmetics company.”
The logos in question are similar, featuring the letter “T” inscribed inside the letter “M.” However, while the Williams’ design features chunky lines and a squat stance, the logo for Madonna’s perfume stands taller and features thin lines. The “t” is also lower case, appearing more like a cross than Williams’ signature logo.
Still, Williams says that he has sent a letter to Madonna’s agent, Guy Oseary, asking the star to cease and desist on use of the logo. Williams also demands a cut of sales of the perfume so far, as well as payment for future use of the logo.
Williams is not the first person to threaten legal action against Madonna over intellectual property. Girls Gone Wild honcho Joe Francis was irate over Madonna using the name of his company as the title of a song on her new album, “MDNA.” He claimed to have sent a cease and desist letter to Oseary, demanding a title change, and declared victory when the title became “Girl Gone Wild.”
However, Oseary explained to TMZ that no one on Madonna’s team received Francis’ letter. He clarified that the song title had simply been changed to reflect the way Madonna enunciated the words in the song.