Copyright Law
Fender warns guitar makers to stop producing Stratocaster look-a-likes
Rock star Jimi Hendrix plays a Fender Stratocaster at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1969. Fender is trying to stop other guitar makers from copying its iconic design. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns via Getty Images)
Musical instruments manufacturing company Fender is trying to stop companies from making guitars that resemble its iconic Stratocaster—an instrument favored by rock stars such as Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly and Eric Clapton.
According to the Wall Street Journal and Guitar World, Fender Musical Instruments sent cease-and-desist letters to guitar builders, telling them to stop production of any Strat-shaped guitars and to recall and destroy such instruments.
Fender sent an initial cease-and-desist letter via its lawyers, Bird & Bird, to a small family-run guitar company based in the United States, LsL Instruments, according to Guitar World. The company has sent the letter to other guitar makers large and small.
The Wall Street Journal reported that earlier this year, the Regional Court of Düsseldorf in Germany ruled in favor of Fender in its copyright case against a Chinese musical instruments company. The court issued a default judgment and said the Stratocaster was a copyrightable work of art.
Fender CEO Edward “Bud” Cole told the Wall Street Journal that Fender respects independent builders and the larger guitar community but has “a responsibility to protect the iconic designs and brand identity associated with its instruments around the world.”
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