Bucks Fizz judge makes his mind up over ownership of name

Intellectual property office sides with Bobby G against three other original ex-bandmates in legal ruling over dispute The UK intellectual property office has been making its mind up which members of Bucks Fizz, the pop group which won the 1981 Eurovision song contest, are eligible to claim the name as their own. Rival members of the original group, Mike Nolan and Cheryl Baker on one side and Robert Gubby, aka Bobby G on the other, resorted to law to establish who could claim the name during their respective bands’ tours of out-of-season holiday camp 80s weekends. Allan James, the principal hearing officer, sided with Gubby. With forensic attention to detail, an exegesis worthy of Shakespearean scholarship and a little asperity, James ruled in a 25-page judgment that Gubby and his partner, Heidi Manton, owned the name, having registered it as a trademark in 2001. Exhibit A was a letter from Nolan dating back to June 1981, which ceded the rights to them. The dispute arose in 2009 as Nolan and Baker – referred to under her real name Rita Stroud – later joined by the group’s other original member, Jay Aston, started touring again, calling themselves the Original Bucks Fizz. They complained that Gubby’s rival group, called Bucks Fizz or Bobby G’s Bucks Fizz, were misleading audiences into thinking they were the band that won Eurovision with Making Your Mind Up. In fact over the past 30 years, as the ruling pointed out, 15 people have belonged to Bucks Fizz at various times. The ruling stated: “The submission that two original members are enough to avoid misleading the public (possibly provided these are Rita Stroud and Mike Nolan) but that one original member is not enough appears to me to be an arbitrary distinction. “The public would have no reason to expect the group performing as Bucks Fizz to consist of the original lineup … [that] had not performed together for 24 years.” Bucks Fizz, the penultimate British winners of the Eurovision contest (Katrina and the Waves scored the latest UK victory, in 1997), was specifically formed to compete by the Big Note Music group and, though the group toured for three years after the competition and had a number of hits, the trademark registration had lapsed. According to the judgment, the group had fewer than 100 fans. Giving evidence for Nolan and Baker, Ian Stocker, a longstanding fan and operator of a website dedicated to the group, insisted that he and his relatives spoke of little else and that people were misled. “The subject of Bucks Fizz is often raised and discussed with me at social gatherings,” he said. “The most commonly asked question is in connection with what the band is currently doing and who is currently in the band. This has caused much confusion over the years.” James said: “This suggests that Mr Stocker’s circle … are well aware that the current lineup is not the original one. Of course, given his own exceptional interest the level of knowledge of his friends may not be typical of the public at large.” Nolan and Baker will face costs from the hearing, likely to be about £5,000. Chris McLeod, director of trademarks at the law firm Squire, Sanders and Dempsey said: “The case shows the importance of registering trademarks and the importance of music groups – which are often partnerships – having written partnership agreements in place at the outset so they retain equal rights to the name.” Intellectual property Pop and rock Eurovision Stephen Bates guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.