User:Louis/Fender Stratocaster Copyright Enforcement: Difference between revisions

Within months of the ruling Fender moved from a Chinese AliExpress seller to established Western builders. Bird & Bird sent letters informing makers of the German ruling and demanding they cease producing guitars that use the Strat body shape, recall and destroy existing unsold inventory, provide sales data on how many of these instruments had been sold, and provide financial restitution for damages and legal fees.<ref name="guitarcom-industry" /> Guitar.com published a redacted copy of the letter, which stated in part:

<blockquote>''You are therefore infringing our client's copyright in the Stratocaster body shape. As a consequence, our client has claims against you to cease and desist from further marketing such guitars, disclosure of information about your sales and marketing, damages, destruction of the infringing products, recall of the infringing products, and reimbursement of our legal fees.''</blockquote><ref name="guitarcom-cd-text"/>

Directive 2001/29/EC provides at Article 4(2) that once a rights-holder places a physical copy on the market within the EU, the distribution right over that specific object is exhausted.<ref name="eu-infosoc" /> In German IP law, the Federal Court of Justice held in I ZR 208/15 (May 4, 2017) that the Rückruf obligation runs to commercial customers in the supply chain.<ref name="bgh-recall" /> Fender CEO Edward Cole confirmed the scope in June 2026: Fender had ''no intention of going after artists, players, collectors, or anyone who simply loves to make music.''<ref name="gw-ceo" />

<blockquote>''First and foremost, Fender is not suing anybody. What we've done is reach out thoughtfully and respectfully to a handful of companies whose guitars come extremely close to replicating the iconic Fender Stratocaster design.''</blockquote><ref name="guitarcom-ceo" />

<blockquote>''No inventory destruction. Those comments were unfortunate. We are not asking anyone to destroy inventory.''</blockquote><ref name="gw-ceo" />

The Bird & Bird letters, as reported by Guitar.com, enumerated Fender's claimed legal remedies as including ''destruction of the infringing products'' and ''recall of the infringing products.''<ref name="guitarcom-cd-text"/> Cole called that language ''unfortunate'' and stated that Fender was ''not asking anyone to destroy inventory,'' while Bird & Bird had sent those letters on Fender's behalf weeks earlier.<ref name="gw-ceo"/>

He described the preferred resolution as ''practical, reasonable solutions,'' including design modifications and ''generous transition periods to sell through existing inventory.''<ref name="gw-ceo" /> He also narrowed the geographic scope, stating the conversations were centered on products made, marketed, or sold in the European Union, not in the United States.<ref name="gw-ceo" /> That EU-only framing sits awkwardly next to the targeting of the PRS Silver Sky, a modified American design, and against Cole's own rejection of the ''S-style'' shorthand as ''an attempt to diminish and whitewash'' Fender's contribution.<ref name="guitarcom-ceo" />

<ref name="fretjam-anatomy">{{Cite web |url=https://www.fretjam.com/parts-of-the-guitar.html |title=Parts of the Guitar |publisher=Fretjam |access-date=2026-06-16}}</ref>

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