Fender pursues copyright on Stratocaster body shape in EU courts

Summary

The Bloomberg segment details Fender's shift from failed U.S. trademark attempts on the Stratocaster body shape—ruled generic in 2009—to pursuing copyright protection in Europe under EU law for works of applied art. It covers the December 2025 default judgment in Düsseldorf against a Chinese AliExpress seller, followed by notices starting in March 2026 to about 60 companies demanding they stop making similar guitars, recall inventory, and destroy stock. Backlash from builders, including a GoFundMe by LSL Instruments, prompted CEO Edward Bud Cole's first interview, where he acknowledged the campaign "got ahead of us" and said Fender is now targeting large manufacturers only.

Sourcing relies on the German court ruling, company statements, Cole's interview, and reporting on Thomann's June 2026 Declaration of Non-Infringement and Fender's subsequent infringement suit. The piece notes 18 companies have signed confidential agreements to redesign or cease production, with Thomann's case set to test the copyright claim in court.

Editorial Assessment

The broadcast accurately recounts the legal progression and Cole's concessions but underplays that the foundational German ruling was a default judgment against a non-appearing defendant, leaving the copyright's validity untested against adversarial arguments. Viewers miss deeper context on the 2009 U.S. TTAB ruling declaring the shape generic after decades of widespread use, Fender's historical tolerance of copies for market visibility, and expert views questioning whether the design reflects sufficient "free creative choices" versus functional guitar vocabulary under recent CJEU precedents like Mio/konektra. The framing as Fender defending a "unique, recognizable, beautiful" design against an industry built on it risks skewing perception toward intellectual property maximalism, omitting how unlimited-duration copyright on an iconic 1954 shape could limit innovation and raise costs for smaller builders. Overall quality is high with strong primary sourcing, but balanced assessment requires noting the claim's vulnerability in contested litigation.