The long running legal battle over Marc Jacobs’ use of Nirvana’s iconic smiley face logo, has finally come to an end.

According to documents filed at a Californian district court yesterday, 09 July, the parties to the dispute – including Robert Fischer, the artist who allegedly created the logo – have agreed to mediators’ proposals.

The original lawsuit was filed back in 2018 when Nirvana accused LVMH owned Marc Jacobs as well as retailers Saks Inc. and Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. of infringing its copyright over the unauthorised use of Nirvana’s smiley-face logo in its ‘Bootleg Redux Grunge’ collection. The offending t-shirt featured a reproduction of the smiley face but with the letters M and J replacing the eyes and the word ‘Heaven’ replacing the word ‘Nirvana.’ above the face.

In 2019, Marc Jacobs countersued claiming there were a number of deficiencies in the legal suit and that there was confusion over who actually designed the logo.

According to former Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, the logo was created by lead singer Kurt Cobain in 1991. On September 13, 1991, Nirvana and DGC Records hosted a party to celebrate the release of Nirvana’s album, Nevermind. The invitation to the release party is the earliest known depiction of the X-Eye Smiley Face, which has gone on to become synonymous with the band.

Nirvana registered for copyright in 1993 before Cobain’s death in 2004. The former band members claim to have used the copyrighted design and logo continuously since 1992 to identify Nirvana’s music and licensed merchandise. The lawsuit took a twist in 2020 when Robert Fisher, a Los Angeles designer who worked as an art director with Geffen Records in the 1990s, claimed that it was he who designed the smiley face as part of a t-shirt for Nirvana in 1991.

As the parties have reached a settlement we may never find out just who really created the iconic image or whether the Marc Jacobs t-shirt infringed its copyright.

The case is Nirvana LLC v. Marc Jacobs Int’l LLC, C.D. Cal., No. 18-cv-10743, 7/9/24.