A legal wrangle over who can use the trademark name Beach Boys has been settled in court.
One of the co-founders of legendary group The Beach Boys, Al Jardine has had to change the name of his band. Jardine who founded the supergroup in 1961 with the Wilson brothers, Carl, Dennis and Brian and their cousin Mike Love had been touring with his band called Beach Boys Family and Friends. He has now had to call his band The All-Star Beach Band due to legal wrangles.
Mike Love had negotiated a deal in 1998 that allowed him to tour with his band under the name of The Beach Boys. Confusion had arisen when show organisers were booking the various bands.
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in its opinion.
"With two bands touring as The Beach Boys or as a similar sounding combination, show organizers sometimes were confused about what exactly they were getting when they booked Jardine's band,"
"A number of show organizers booked Jardine's band thinking they would get the Beach Boys along with special added guests, but subsequently cancelled the booking when it was discovered that Jardine's band was not what they thought it was."
The surviving band members went to court over the dispute in 2000 and won an injunction against Jardine using the tradmark Beach Boy name in his group.
