New York band Vampire Weekend have spoken out about the current lawsuit they are facing over the cover art of their new album ‘Contra’.
Currently enjoying a busy summer of festival dates, Vampire Weekend have grown from strength to strength over the last two years, notching up huge sales both in the UK and America as well as just announcing a new UK tour for November.
However the enjoyment of playing to thousands of fans and selling thousands of records was cut short recently when court papers were filed against the band for the unauthorised use of a photograph which features on the front of the group’s second album ‘Contra’.
The photograph is that of a girl called Kirsten Kennis whose face has now become recognisable to fans across the world. With Vampire Weekend also using the picture as a backdrop to their stage shows, Kennis has come forward claiming that the signature on the release form for the photograph was forged, wanting $2million from the band’s label.
Signed to XL Recordings, the label recently released a statement saying they are contempt with fighting the allegations in court.
"As is standard practice, Vampire Weekend and XL Recordings licensed the rights to use the photo on the cover of Contra pursuant to a license agreement that contains representations and warranties authorizing this use of the photo. Now that a lawsuit has been filed, we look forward to having the matter resolved in Court. We will be filing our response after we have had an opportunity to review the allegations. Consistent with our practice, we will not be commenting further about the pending litigation at this time."
Appearing slightly confused whilst recently speaking to NME about the case, Vampire Weekend singer Ezra Koenig had this to say about the situation. "I think I can speak for all of us and say this is the first time any of us have ever been sued, so we're still learning how it works.”
He continued, “There's so many things we could say about it but given we have no experience of it we're just keeping conversations to a journal for now, which is a little frustrating. There's nothing we can say about it. We're not trying to be mysterious. I imagine in the next few months there'll be plenty to talk about. Given it's our first time we just want to do it properly."
You can see Vampire Weekend on their newly announced UK tour this November. The band have confirmed a list of dates which kick-off in Blackpool on November 25th.
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