One Direction Lawsuit Settled Over Band Name; U.S. Group Accuses 1D of Stealing Their Trademark
The United Kingdom boy band won a lawsuit over their band name after a U.S. group claimed that they were the first to call themselves One Direction.
The U.S. band, once called One Direction, sued the U.K. group in the spring. However, after the settlement on Sept. 4, One Direction got to keep their name and the U.S. group changed their name to Uncharted Shores.
The American band originally asked for a million dollars in damages from One Direction. Simon Cowell's company, Syco, then countered by suing the American group and accusing them of trying to "leech off of a more famous group's success," after which they started receiving hate mail from fans of the U.K. group, according to Entertainment Weekly. Cowell also claimed in his suit that the U.K. band in fact were the first to have the trademark name.
The two parties settled for an undisclosed amount and the American group was more than "happy" to change their name, a press release from both sides stated.
One Direction assembled together to form a group after Simon Cowell suggested it during the 2010 season of X Factor. The band mates were competing individually at the time but upon Cowell's recommendation, they got together to form a group.
One Direction is made up of Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson.
The band released the art for their upcoming album, "Take Me Home," last week. The album arrives in stores on Nov. 13 and was available for pre-sale yesterday.
With dibs on the One Direction name now sealed in paperwork, the band will have their MTV Video Music Awards debut on Thursday, Sept. 6. They will go head-to-head with fellow U.K. band the Wanted in the Best New Artist category. They are also nominated for Best Pop Video for "Beautiful" and will perform for their first time on the VMA stage.
The VMAs will be hosted by Kevin Hart and will air on Sept. 6 at 8 p.m./7c.
