Yoko Ono Sues Lennon Murphy
Singer-songwriter Lennon Murphy is being sued by Yoko Ono for the use of her own name.
In an open letter from Lennon, she states:
“Yesterday I received notice that Yoko Ono had filed a law suit against me, asking for a cancellation of the trademark that I own for the name ‘Lennon.’ This could very well mean the career that I have worked so hard at, the one you all have believed in, may come to an end.
When I first started playing music at 14, I was known for the most part as ‘The Lennon Murphy Band’. A few months later some of the shows started being marketed using my full name as well as some just using ‘Lennon’. ‘Lennon’ has been used in fact since 1997.
When I signed with Arista Records in 2000 at the age of 18, a marketing decision was made to continue being known just as Lennon. In all honesty, I didn’t care. I was just happy to sign a record deal, make an album, and pay my bills.
Lennon is my first name by birth and I am regularly asked if I was named after the Beatle, having always replied no. My mother named me after ‘John Lennon that wrote songs, painted, and baked bread with his son.’ She named me for the man, not the pop star.
In 2000, Arista Records addressed the issue of Yoko Ono potentially having a problem with our use of the name. My product manager at Arista was ironically the son of the lawyer who actually represents Yoko. So he approached Yoko, to make her aware of the use, evidently giving her blessing as Arista proceeded forward with the album release and at the same time filing for the trademark. It takes time for all of the legal work to go through, but finally in 2003 I was granted by the United States Patent &Trademark office the ownership in the name Lennon for musical use.
Eight long years passed and no one says a word. Just two days before the statue of limitations was up, this very same lawyer we went to in 2000 filed their complaint, accusing me of falsely representing myself and causing confusion in the market place that has damaged to the John Lennon name.
I’m not sure what confusion I could be causing since I don’t have the $50,000 to hire a lawyer and fight this. If people were confusing me with John Lennon and accidentally buying my records I should have more than enough money to live my life and hire a lawyer.
This is my life. I have no respect for the name Murphy. It was my father’s name; we will leave it at that. I have represented myself as Lennon because this is my name. That was the name that meant so much to my mother. That’s who I am.
I don’t know what’s going to be the outcome, but I just wanted everyone to know what is going on. I never falsified my intentions, I never used John Lennon for my benefit, and I never took one cent out of Yoko’s bank account. I play music, my name is Lennon, and the most heartbreaking thing out of this whole situation is the insult it gives to my late mother and who she believed in; on top of demeaning the man that John Lennon was and will always be.
The 74-year-old Yoko Ono insists she has not taken legal action against Murphy – she simply “tried to stop her from getting the exclusive rights to use the name Lennon for performance purposes by notifying the United States Patent and Trademark Office.”
Lennon is currently in the studio completing a new acoustic record that will be out later this year, and she is also fronting a new band called Devil’s Gift.
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