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Artist News Legal
Hotel California is still Hotel California after settling Eagles lawsuit
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 23 January 2018
Hotel California in the Mexican town of Todos Santos will continue to operate under the name of Hotel California after it settled a lawsuit with The Eagles last week.
The Eagles sued Hotel California last year, claiming that the hotel was implying to guests that it was in someway endorsed by the band. It did this, the band, not only by sharing its name with one of The Eagles’ most famous songs, but by piping their music around the building and selling merchandise that suggested some sort of official connection.
The bricks and mortar Hotel California was actually named such long before The Eagles wrote their song, it being located on the Baja California Peninsula that runs alongside the Gulf Of California. See, there’s more to California that just California.
However, it changed its name at various points in the latter half of the 20th century before reverting to Hotel California in 2001. It is since then, The Eagles alleged, that marketing materials have falsely implied an association with the band and/or their song.
Things actually went legal after Hotel California, which already owns trademarks in that brand in Mexico, tried to trademark the name in the US. Last week’s settlement of the lawsuit followed the news the hotel had withdrawn its trademark application north of the border.
Terms of the deal are not known, though the hotel confirmed it would continue to operate under its current name. It’s not clear whether it will stop selling all that merch that the band specifically objected to. A lawyer for the hotel did state that his client “claims no association with The Eagles or with [their] song and record album ‘Hotel California'”.
