This Fender thing was brought to my attention by @Elliott H last week, and has been mentioned briefly in posts here and there without any real details. So, as I understand it, the situation is pretty much this... Back in March, Fender won a court case in Germany. A Düsseldorf court ruled that the classic Stratocaster body shape is protected as a copyrighted “work of applied art” in the EU. It was a default win (the Chinese seller in the lawsuit apparently didn’t even show up, so is it actually a win?), but Fender is now using it to send cease-and-desist letters to builders making Strat-style guitars. First it hit a high end boutique guitar maker: LsL Instruments. They got demands to stop production, destroy inventory, hand over sales data, and pay damages. Now LsL guitars absolutely SMOKE Fender, its not even close. But they have the price point that reflects this. LsL responded by launching a GoFundMe that’s already getting a lot of money. If Fender gets their way, this will sink a family-run business. Then last week, PRS Guitars confirmed they received one too, targeting the John Mayer Silver Sky. PRS says they “disagree with Fender’s assessment” and aren’t saying much more. That one is getting a lot of buzz. The Silver Sky is their best selling guitar. Fender says they’re only going after guitars that “completely replicate” the exact Strat design, not every double-cutaway out there. They say they protecting decades of innovation and legacy. But a lot of players feel it’s aggressive overreach — especially since Strat shapes have been copied openly for 70 years. In fact Fender has previously lost court claims all over the world, for that very reason. They said that that shape is so ingrained in the culture, that it would be absolutely ridiculous to rule that way. It’s way too late. But go figure, a no-show by a Chinese knock off, gives Fender, a default, victory, and here we are! What do you guys think?