Madonna in Legal Trouble Over 'Girl Gone Wild' Single? (AUDIO)
Madonna announced her single, "Girl Gone Wild," Monday, but apparently, not everyone is pleased with the electropop song.
Joe Francis, creator of the "Girls Gone Wild" videos, DVDs, and franchise, threatened to sue Madonna if the song was performed at the Super Bowl during her halftime performance, according to reports.
Madonna "violated federal and state trademark laws by making unauthorized use of Mr. Francis' trademark 'Girls Gone Wild' in not only the title, but subject line of her various advertisements in order to lure potential customers to purchase her latest musical effort," read a letter from Francis' lawyer David Houston.
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The Super Bowl committee responded, and as per Francis' request, the song was dropped from the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Madonna performed "Give Me All Your Luvin'" with rapper Nicki Minaj and artist M.I.A. instead.
Madonna also allegedly changed the name of the song from "Girls Gone Wild"- the same name as Francis' videos - to "Girl Gone Wild," neglecting the 's' to change the title.
For Francis, though, the name change was not enough.
"Clearly her label was trying to avoid legal action surrounding the song," he said in a statement. "But this is still infringement as far as the law is concerned and we have been in touch with Madonna's representatives in an effort to resolve this issue."
Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, denies Francis' claims of a cease and desist letter, or that the pop diva changed her song title because of his threats.
Not only did no one from Madonna's camp receive a letter, but Madonna doesn't even know who Joe Francis is, according to Oseary. Madonna was unaware of any legal action, said the representative.
In addition, he says they only changed the title of the song because Madonna actually sings "like a girl gone wild" in the song. They have also "tweaked" several other tracks on the album recently, Oseary told TMZ.
Despite Francis' claims, Madonna hasn't been the only one to use the popular song title. Rapper 50 Cent, R&B group Jagged Edge, rapper Ludacris, and a host of other artists have used "Girls Gone Wild" as a song title after the videos and DVDs became popular in the late 1990s.
"Girl Gone Wild" is Madonna's second single off of her newest album, "MDNA." Produced by Benny Benassi and written by Jenson Vaughan, the song is purely electropop. The album will be released March 26.
To hear Madonna's newest single, click below. (WARNING: Video contains graphic images.)
