Velvet Underground, Warhol Estate Battle Over Banana

The Velvet Underground is taking the Warhol Foundation to court over the rights to rock and roll's best-known banana. The surviving members of the band argue that the banana illustration then-manager Andy Warhol created for their massively influential 1967 debut album has become their trademark, and Warhol's estate had no right to sell it to a maker of iPod cases, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The band didn't trademark the banana at the time, but members earned the rights to it through more than 25 years of association with the image, the lawsuit argues. "The banana design became a symbol, truly an icon, of The Velvet Underground," the suit reads. Experts believe the path ahead may be slippery for the rockers' lawyers. "This isn't necessarily going to be easy," a copyright lawyer notes. "After all, Andy Warhol's name is also on the cover." (More Lou Reed stories.)