Pharrell Williams is taking Black Eyed Peas minstrel will.i.am to court — not for crimes against music, but to seek permission to go ahead with his new creative project, I Am Other.
Will had previously filed suit against Williams, stating that the name I Am Other was too similar to his own name. His lawyer called the legal action a "run-of-the-mill trademark procedure", but Williams disputes this, saying Will has refused to resolve the issue amicably and has launched at least eight cases against him. Because really, when you don't even produce the beats you pass off as your own, how else are you supposed to occupy your time?
Williams has now filed a suit in New York of his own, asking a judge for permission to use the name and — hilariously — citing Dr Seuss' Green Eggs And Ham to make his case: "Sam I am. I am Sam. I am Sam. Sam I am. In contrast, the I Am Other mark means 'I am something else', leaving what that 'else' is to the imagination of the consumer. It certainly does not mean 'I am Will'."
It's just as well Williams is likely to win this one, because there's no way his wallet could take the hit if he lost — after all, all he's done lately is appear on the year's biggest single, 'Get Lucky', and the year's other biggest single, 'Blurred Lines', record guest spots on the new Jay-Z, Kylie Minogue and Lonely Island albums, provide three original songs for animated blockbuster Despicable Me 2, and play drums on the score for one of the year's biggest films, Man Of Steel.
That said, it's a safe bet he won't be on the next BEP album.
