A Condé Nast magazine display in London. Photo Credit: Toa Heftiba
Earlier this week, Condé Nast sued Drake and 21 Savage over a fake Vogue issue that they allegedly released as part of a promotional campaign for Her Loss. Now, the plaintiff has officially secured a restraining order in the high-profile case.
Condé Nast’s win in the much-publicized courtroom confrontation just recently came to light in a ruling from the presiding judge. In brief, regarding the dispute’s background, Drake and 21 Savage jointly released Her Loss last week.
Ahead of the 16-track effort’s debut, though, the duo worked to market the project with a deep-fake clip of a Howard Stern sit down, a Saturday Night Live appearance that hadn’t occurred on the actual program, and a Tiny Desk concert that, predictably, hadn’t taken place.
SiriusXM’s Stern appeared amused with the promotion-minded stunt, and NPR, aside from clarifying that the artists have yet to participate in a Tiny Desk show, relayed that the individuals are “welcome anytime.”
But Condé Nast took issue with – and legal action against – the evidently unauthorized Vogue installment, which features Drake and 21 Savage on its cover. Beyond posting about the magazine edition on social media, the creators at hand allegedly made physical copies of the fake Vogue issue available in cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Drake’s hometown of Toronto.
The noted social media posts featuring the Vogue cover were deleted on Tuesday, but copies of the magazine are still fetching north of $100 a pop on Ebay at present – with the number of ongoing listings suggesting that fans (and resellers) obtained more than a few of the issues.
But as mentioned at the outset, a judge has granted Condé Nast’s motion for a temporary restraining order, indicating that the Vogue owner “has been irreparably harmed” and “has a likelihood of success on its claims for federal and common law trademark infringement,” among other things.
Consequently, the court likewise communicated that the “temporary restraining order is in the public interest to protect the public against confusion, deception, and mistake.”
And under the order, the defendants are specifically prohibited “from displaying, disseminating, or distributing copies or images of” the Vogue issue or cover, besides displaying the Vogue trademarks or using the name, image, or likeness of the publication’s editor-in-chief to promote Her Loss.
Similarly, the judge ordered the deletion of the defendants’ social media posts pertaining to the unauthorized Vogue issue – said posts have already been taken down, as highlighted – as well as the removal of copies of the magazine itself and related posters and billboards.
Finally, the judge has also called on the defendants to appear on Tuesday, November 22nd, to demonstrate why “Condé Nast should not be granted a preliminary injunction extending the terms of the temporary restraining order,” the legal document shows.
“Defendants are hereby put on notice that failure to attend the show cause hearing scheduled herein shall result in the immediate issuance of a preliminary injunction,” the text drives home towards its end.
Last month, attorneys for Drake, who reupped with Universal Music Group in May, sent a cease-and-desist letter to “Fake Drake.”