FKA twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Barnett, has filed a lawsuit against the 1990s alt-pop duo the Twigs, alleging they sent cease-and-desist letters over her stage name trademark. She seeks a jury trial to secure rights to use and register the FKA twigs mark. The suit argues the parties operate in different commercial spaces.
Tahliah Barnett, known professionally as FKA twigs, launched a legal challenge on March 24 against the twin sisters Laura Good and Linda Good of the band the Twigs. According to the lawsuit, the duo has bombarded her with cease-and-desist letters claiming trademark infringement tied to her stage name, which evolved from her earlier use of 'the Twigs' in 2013. Back then, Barnett offered the sisters $15,000 for their music projects to coexist without buying the name outright. They declined and sued her in 2014, prompting her to rebrand as FKA twigs—a change they deemed insufficient to prevent confusion, the suit states. In May 2024, the Twigs escalated by threatening injunctions against Barnett's use of the mark and demanding a seven-figure payout, according to court documents. Barnett counters that the band, formed in 1994, has been inactive since their decade-old exchanges and maintains minimal online presence: 67 YouTube subscribers, 19,332 views, 705 Instagram followers, and 25 monthly Spotify listeners. By contrast, FKA twigs boasts 3.2 million monthly Spotify listeners and over 300 million YouTube views. 'The parties operate in entirely different commercial ecosystems,' the lawsuit argues. Barnett requests a jury trial to affirm her rights. Pitchfork reported reaching out to representatives for both sides but received no immediate comment. This comes amid Barnett's rising profile. In November, she released EUSEXUA Afterglow, a reimagining of her Grammy-winning album EUSEXUA. Accepting her first Grammy last month, she said: 'I know to a lot of people I may be new, but I’ve actually been doing this a really long time. To any artist: Don’t give up, follow your vision, do you, because that’s what’s going to make the world fall in love with your art.'
