A judge has found Drake and 21 Savage guilty of infringing on Vogue’s trademarks and has barred them from using the fake cover.
In the lead-up to their joint project, “Her Loss”, the Toronto star and the Atlanta rapper unveiled a fake Vogue cover that was apparently available across New York.
Unfortunately, the problem was that Anna Wintour, Vogue, or their parent company, Condé Nast gave permission to use their brand.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff issued a restraining order on Wednesday barring the artists from further distributing the phony cover and forcing them to take down references to it on their social media accounts and websites just two days after Condé Nast sued them.
He found that the promotional campaign likely infringes on the publisher’s trademarks by “confusing consumers” and “deceiving the public.”
“Issuance of the requested temporary restraining order is in the public interest to protect the public against confusion, deception, and mistake,” reads the order.
Prior to the project’s release, Drake and 21 Savage announced the cover story online where the former suggested that he received support from Vogue and Anna Wintour.
“Me and my brother on newsstands tomorrow,” Drake wrote. “Thanks @voguemagazine and Anna Wintour for the love and support on this historic moment.”
In addition to the phony cover, Drake and 21 Savage spoofed appearances on Saturday Night Live, NPR’s Tiny Desk series and The Howard Stern Show to promote “Her Loss”.
