Court to make its mind up on Buck Fizz
The founding members of the pop group Bucks Fizz are in a legal battle over the right to use the band’s name.
Thirty years after the original group’s Eurovision triumph there are now two musical ensembles battling for the right to hold the name.
Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston have been touring using the name the Original Bucks Fizz.
But the wife of the fourth member of the original line-up, Bobby Gubby, owns the copyright of the name Bucks Fizz.
He has been performing along with three new members – including his wife Heidi Manton – under the name Bucks Fizz.
Outside the Trade Mark Registry, the lawyer for the Original Bucks Fizz, Dean Dunham, was hopeful they would be successful.
He said: “What Bobby G does is nothing like what Bucks fizz was…you can’t mislead the great British public, if you do, it is wrong.”
The trademark for the name Bucks Fizz was applied for in 1997 and registered in 2001 after a legal dispute.
Mr Dunham said Mr Nolan signed an agreement not to contest the registration of the trademark in the wake of a coach crash in which he was seriously injured.
Mr Gubby has defended his right to use the name, saying that only his incarnation of the group had a “direct connection” to the original, as it had been operating continuously.
Bucks Fizz are not the first to get into such a dispute over their band name.
Three founding members of The Bay City Rollers have been forced to tour as Les McKeown’s Legendary Bay City Rollers.
Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath have also been locked into similar legal arguments.
A final decision on the Bucks Fizz dispute is expected to be given in five to six weeks.
