UPDATE: Yoko Ono responds to Boing Boing and says she's not suing Lennon Murphy, just seeking to block Murphy's attempt to file an exclusive trademark claim on "Lennon."
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Yoko Ono, widow of former Beatles member John Lennon, is reported to be seeking legal action against singer-songwriter (and Suicide Girl) Lennon Murphy for alleged "tarnishment" of John Lennon's name.
Ms. Murphy's band is called Lennon, and she is attempting to register that band name as a trademark.
Here's a PDF of the papers, here's a snip from Lennon Murphy's response on her MySpace page.
Getting Sued by Yoko
Current mood: angry
Category: MusicYesterday I received notice that Yoko Ono had filed a law suit against me, asking for a cancellation of the trademark that I own for the name "Lennon." This could very well mean the career that I have worked so hard at, the one you all have believed in, may come to an end. I wanted to address the situation to all my fans because without you I am nothing and it's not fair to everyone who has believed in my music not to be properly informed of this pure bullshit.
When I first started playing music at 14, I was known for the most part as "The Lennon Murphy Band". Not a name I was very fond of, no one could ever agree on anything so it made sense. A few months later some of the shows started being marketed using my full name as well as some that just using "Lennon." There was never really any consistancy but there was well enough to justify stating that "Lennon" had been used in fact since 1997. When I signed with Arista Records in 2000 at the age of 18, a marketing decision was made to continue being known just as Lennon. In all honesty, I didn't care. I was just happy to sign a record deal, make an album, and pay my bills.
Lennon is my first name by birth and I am regualarly asked if I was named after the Beatle, having always replied no. My mother named me after "John Lennon that wrote songs, painted, and baked bread with his son". She named me for the man, not the pop star.
Coverage links: TMZ, Fox, NME.
Julian Lennon, who is the son of John Lennon (and the former Beatle's first wife, Cynthia) also responded to the situation on his MySpace page. He's totally cool with the singer using her name, which also happens to be his father’s name, and says "She has My full support."
