MUSIC NEWS - Frank Zappa's widow has been unable to stop a German festival using Frank's name and image. Gail Zappa and her family trust sued the owners of a German Frank Zappa fan club over their annual Zappanale Festival, demanding they stop using the family's name. They also asked for the remove a bronze sculpture of the avant-garde musician from the town where the fest takes place and asked for 250,000 euros as damages. A court in Dusseldorf recently threw out the Zappa case, ruling that organizers of the fest can continue to use the name, and the late musician's image in its branding and on its merchandise, because doing so, the judge said, did not violate any of Gail Zappa's rights. Gail's case was weakened because she was unable to show the court that she used Zappa's name and image in Germany. She also admitted knowing about the event since its start back in 1990 (three years before Frank Zappa's death) yet took action in 2008.
The promoter of the event, Thomas Dippel, told the press after the court's decision "We have always been certain that we have the older rights. We have also patented the name of the festival with the German patent office. Gail Zappa only applied for the patent of her own rights in 2002".
The ruling means Zappanale 2009 festival can go ahead as scheduled August 12 thu 16.
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