Nirvana and Marc Jacobs have agreed to settle their lawsuit over the fashion brand’s use of the band’s iconic smiley face logo.

Kim Gordon, Coco Gordon Moore (Photo by Lexie Moreland/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)

In 2018, Nirvana filed a lawsuit against Marc Jacobs International following the release of the “Redux Grunge” collection, which featured a shirt bearing a design similar to Nirvana’s iconic smiley face logo. Unlike Nirvana’s original logo, which had X’s for eyes, the disputed shirt displayed the letters M and J for eyes, with the word “Heaven” above them in a similar font to Nirvana’s style.

At the time, Nirvana’s lawyers alleged that Marc Jacobs’ use of the image was “intentional”, and done in an attempt to “associate the entire ‘Bootleg Redux Grunge’ collection with Nirvana, one of the founders of the ‘Grunge’ musical genre, so as to make the ‘Grunge’ association with the collection more authentic.”

Kurt Cobian was believed to have come up with the logo, however, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl have both admitted they’re not sure whose idea it was – which Marc Jacobs’ lawyers noted in a countersuit.

In the 2019 claim, the designers stated, “The apparent absence of any living person with first-hand knowledge of the creation of the allegedly copyrighted work in question, coupled with numerous other deficiencies in the 166 Registration that is the basis for Nirvana’s infringement claim are the basis for the counterclaim asserted.”

In a joint court filing on July 9, the involved parties announced they had reached a settlement agreement. Details were scarce, but they confirmed acceptance of a “Mediators Proposal” submitted by Magistrate Judge Steve Kim, which will be finalized within three weeks.

According to Rolling Stone, the parties are currently drafting a formal settlement agreement.