Less than two weeks after a trio of Canadian politicians borrowed Nine Inch Nails’ iconic logo for a celebratory T-shirt, the cease-and-desist letters have arrived. A spokeswoman for Alberta Premier Rachel Notley told the National Post Trent Reznor’s lawyers sent a note that “basically just said, ‘Please don’t use our logo — don’t use it for any purposes. It’s protected.’”Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi also received a letter about the unauthorized use of the logo, although a statement from his office says this “very polite” missive “expressed concern over the use of the logo on T-shirts that are being sold by a third party that is not connected to either Mayor Nenshi or his office.”
Indeed, the original T-shirts, which paired the slogan “Notley Iveson Nenshi: Building Alberta Together” with the band’s logo, were only meant for the politicians’ personal use, and were never for sale. For the record, Nenshi told Global News he doesn’t condone this kind of bootlegging in any way, shape, or form: “Don’t do that. That’s not the point. And I can see why anyone would be upset by that. So if you’re someone on a website selling this T-shirt, quit it.”