Justin Bieber receives cease and desist over album cover

“The morning Bieber announced his album, it was pretty tough to miss."

Justin Bieber's brand-new album has just been released today but the star is in hot water over the cover of it. I'd imagine that releasing a new album is supposed to be an exciting time for any artist, but for Justin Bieber this time around it's not as smooth sailing as it usually is. Bieber has received a cease-and-desist letter over the cover design of his new album, Justice. French dance duo, Justice, are saying that there are similarities between the design of Justin's latest album and their own logo. You will best know Justice for their insanely popular 'D.A.N.C.E.' song. They claim the "T" in Justin's Justice album is very similar to the design of the "T" in Justice's logo which has been around for almost 15 years. Justice's co-manager, Tyler Goldberg, told Rolling Stone: “The morning Bieber announced his album, it was pretty tough to miss." “Aside from seeing it all over the internet ourselves, we heard from hundreds of people throughout the day — industry people, Justice fans — and the Justice guys received a ton of messages, not only compelled to point out the similarities between the Justice Justin Bieber album, but confused. ‘Is this a Justice collaboration?'” The legal letter sent to Justin's team from Justice's record label, Ed Banger Records says: "Your use of the Mark is illegal. You have not received permission from Justice to utilise the Mark." "Moreover, Bieber’s work is in no way affiliated with, supported by, or sponsored by Justice. Such use of the Mark is not only illegal, but likely to deceive and confuse consumers..." “Through your illegal co-opting of the Mark, you are now subject to immediate legal action and damages including, but not limited to, punitive and injustice relief.” Justin's team are yet to comment but according to reports they had rejected the claim "arguing his logo and merchandise did not infringe on the group's trademark." Tyler said: "Global patent and trademark offices do not police the use of trademarks by third parties. As a result, trademarks need to be defended at all times by the trademark holder." “The onus is on the trademark owner to protect against an unlawful use by third parties, regardless of the third party being a billionaire manager or a music superstar." “We’ll continue to protect the Justice logo — the trademark that was established 15 years ago — at all costs.”