ABBA sue “parasitic” tribute act ABBA MANIA

Iconic pop group ABBA have sued the UK tribute act ABBA MANIA for trademark infringement.

The suit was filed on Friday, describing the behaviour of the West End cover band as "parasitic" and in "bad-faith." The lawsuit argues that ABBA MANIA are intentionally misleading fans into believing they are officially endorsed by the original Swedish group.

"Defendants include the term ‘official’ and ‘original’ in many of their marketing materials, website pages, and social media handles,” the lawsuit reads, “which gives consumers the impression that there is some kind of association, affiliation, or sponsorship between ABBA and ABBA MANIA”.

Somewhat confusing descriptions such as "the Official ABBA Mania Tribute Show" can still be found prominently placed on the ABBA MANIA website.

According to the lawsuit, ABBA previously approached the tribute act in an attempt to resolve the situation out of court.

“In an attempt to amicably resolve this dispute, [ABBA] explained how defendants could properly use the phrase ‘ABBA Tribute’ in a non-confusing manner to describe their tribute act so long as the actual name of the tribute act did not include the word ABBA,” the suit continues. “But defendants refused to comply and cease use of the name ABBA MANIA."

The West End production has been in operation since 1999 and is one of many ABBA tribute acts. Other groups, though, tend to have considerably different names from the original band, such as Björn Again or Dancing Dream.

At the bottom of ABBA MANIA's website, and in considerably smaller text size, it does read “Abba Mania is no way associated, affiliated, or endorsed by Polar Music or Abba.” If the statement is enough to protect the act from legal repercussions it is yet to be seen.

The lawsuit comes as the Swedish band makes its return with their first album in 40 years, Voyage. The group has also announced the release of their first-ever Christmas single 'Little Things' later this year.

You can listen to Voyage below: