Yesterday we published this amazing clipart version of the cover for the 1966 classic The Velvet Undergound & Nico album. But little did we know that at that very moment the band were filing a lawsuit against The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for using the iconic banana image on iPhone cases and other tat.

Lou “laughing boy” Reed and John “quiet and Welsh” Cale are accusing the foundation, which was set up in accordance with Andy Warhol’s will, of trying to “deceive the public” into thinking the selection of eye-wateringly priced items of apparel they’ve slapped the design on are in some way officially approved Velvet Underground merchandise. Which they’re not.

While Warhol never copyrighted the design (it’s got his name on it in massive letters, doesn’t that count?) the band added a trademark to it for their 1995 Peel Slowly and See boxset.

The lawsuit claims:

"VU's use and application of the design to symbolize the group and its whole body of work has been exclusive, continuous and uninterrupted for more than 25 years. As a result, the symbol has become so identified with The Velvet Underground that members of the public, and particularly those who listen to rock music, immediately recognize the banana design as the symbol of The Velvet Underground."

Now we’re just simple folk and we don’t understand all that but can’t they just share the banana? Half each? Or has one bit gone all brown and soggy and even though that still tastes the same you never want to eat it when it’s like that do you? No. We can see their point.

The artistic irony is that Warhol nicked the original image from a public domain advertisement. So in essence, we all own the banana.