It's a totally "out-of-this-world" piece of information shared by Gala. The famous British band Coldplay, led by Chris Martin, might soon have to defend their latest album in a French court. The issue? The title of their tenth album, Moon Music, released in October 2024. A company from Lyon with the exact same name, Moon Music, is accusing the band of using a name they had already trademarked several years ago.
A case that has recently made quite a stir in the cultural… and legal world.A name already registered by a company in Lyon
The founders of the company claim they protected the brand well before the Coldplay album. Founded by Vincent Archenault and Antoine Methivier, the company Moon Music specializes in aerial show production. The two entrepreneurs explain that they anticipated any possible confusion by registering the domain name moonmusic.fr as early as 2020.
They took it a step further by officially registering the trademark “Moon Music” in September 2022 with the National Institute of Industrial Property. According to them…x, when they discover in 2023 that the British group is preparing an album with the same name, the surprise is total. A formal notice is then sent to Coldplay in June 2024 to flag the situation. However, according to the Lyon-based company, this step went unanswered. This version is contested by the communications department of Warner Music Group, which clarified that a complete response was provided in July 2024, explaining why the album title chosen by the group was not considered infringing.
An unfavorable first decision for the company
The case has already gone through an initial judicial episode before the court in Lyon. On January 27, 2025, the president of the judicial court rejected the company's request.te; French. The decision hinges on one central point: the use of the term “Moon Music” by the group was done in an artistic context, and not to market a service similar to that of the Lyon-based company. A legal interpretation that hasn't convinced the two entrepreneurs, who claim that the release of the album has caused a significant drop in traffic to their website. Additionally, the communication service of Warner Music Group explains that the group chose “Moon Music” as the title of the album and song during the summer of 2022, several months before the plaintiffs registered their French trademark in September 2022.
Refusing to abandon the fight, the founders of Moon Music have decided to appeal the decision. As a result: the case will be re-examined on April 1st by the court of appeal of Lyon. A calendar that feels almost like a joke... but the stakes are definitely real. Behind this dispute lies the sensitive issue of intellectual property and the use of names in the artistic world.
Source : Gala