— Karen Brennan, Attorney
Last month, Eddie Van Halen’s company, ELVH, Inc., filed a lawsuit against Nike for copyright infringement. The complaint alleges the above-depicted model of Nike’s Dunk Low shoes infringe his copyright in the red, white and black striped Frankenstein guitar design. The lawsuit is seeking not only profits from Nike’s sale of the shoes and damages, but also the destruction and impoundment of all shoes in question. Nike issued a statement denying the charges.
The real kicker in this case? Eddie Van Halen recently introduced his own line of tennis shoes, EVH, incorporating the same Frankenstein design. Interestingly, as one online news magazine pointed out, the EVH shoes bare a striking resemblance to the Classic Chuck Taylor tennis shoe by Converse, a subsidiary of Nike. My advice to Eddie would be to Jump from this train while he still can.