Famous 70s band The Eagles has settled a lawsuit with a hotel in Mexico over the name "Hotel California." The lawsuit was dismissed by mutual agreement by both parties.
In an interview with Billboard, Eagles attorney Tom Jirgal stated, "This matter has been settled by mutual agreement of the Parties." The hotel's lawyer similarly confirmed the statement, and explained that the hotel will continue using the name "Hotel California" as it owns 28 Mexican trademark registrations for the name and its variants.
The Eagles Ltd. had filed a lawsuit against Hotel California Baja, LLC last year in the US District Court in Los Angeles. The issue arose over the use of the name "Hotel California" which was the band's most famous song, and the name used by Hotel California Baja, LLC for one of their hotels in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur. The band had argued that the company was trying to capitalize on the success of the band and their hit song, and that the hotel had advertising targeted at U.S. consumers.
The hotel, which also had many forms of merchandise available with the trademark, had denied it was trying to mislead consumers and insinuate affiliation with the band in any way. The hotel was also a target of much critique as it had a plethora of bad reviews, with visitors saying they were misled and deceived.
The Eagles' claim was later on proven to be false as records show that the hotel opened under the name Hotel California in 1950, some 26 years before the band saw success from their similarly named hit song and album. The hotel had undergone several ownerships and name changes throughout the years.
The Eagles, an iconic band from the 1970s released their album "Hotel California" in 1976, which included a song of the same name. The band saw great success for the album which won them a Grammy in 1977. Their hit song "Hotel California" continued to soar to great heights and is still getting a lot of airtime today.
