Warhol foundation sued over iconic logo

Once they were the ultimate cool hipsters, but now the Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol's foundation are fighting in federal court in Manhattan over rights to a banana.

The avant-garde 1960s band and headliners Lou Reed and John Cale Wednesday sued the Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts over a licensing deal to use the banana logo from an iconic VU album cover on iPad and iPhone sleeves.

Reed and Cale, general partners of the Velvet Underground, say the banana design is a band trademark, while Warhol -- who collaborated with the group in the design of the 1967 album "The Velvet Underground and Nico" -- claims the banana was copyrighted, according to court filings.

The band has cut licensing deals to use the banana for T-shirts and Absolut Vodka, but it's trying to stop Warhol's foundation, created by his will, from licensing it to Incase, which makes sleeves for handhelds.

"The Velvet Underground and Nico" was rated by Rolling Stone magazine the 13th-greatest album ever. In the original cover design, the banana design could be peeled off, revealing a different colored banana underneath. It bore Warhol's signature.

Christopher Whent, a lawyer for the band, said the banana had never been Warhol's artwork. "It has been described to me as something he found in a magazine in his dentist's office," Whent said.

The lawyer said laws in effect in 1967 required a printed copyright symbol for copyright protection, and the Velvet Underground album didn't have one. The foundation, he said, has "a very broad position that everything Andy Warhol touched is somehow Andy's property."

The Warhol foundation did not return a call for comment. The band is seeking damages and an injunction.