It's all fun and games until someone calls the lawyers.

The war of words between White Stripe Jack White and British garage rocker Billy Childish has become litigious. Aquarium, a London gallery that exhibits Childish's art, created a poster exploiting the bitterness that has developed between the two musicians. Designed as a boxing announcement, the disputed "art" promotes a fictional boxing match between "Bitter" Billy Childish and Jack "Whingy" White.

Lawyers for The White Stripes claim that the poster violates their intellectual property rights and have successfully halted sales of the item on eBay. "It was just a bit of fun but these people don't seem to have a sense of humor," said Aquarium owner Steven Lowe. "I did the poster to entertain Billy and our customers really, but then we go and get this letter."

However, since receiving the letter, Aquarium has replaced a photograph of White with an artist's rendering, thus avoiding use of any alleged White Stripes intellectual property. To allay White's fears that only Aquarium shall profit from the venture, they have offered to split the revenue evenly with him. "We'll split the wadge of dosh straight down the middle between the two foes and Jack's money will be converted into solid gold, put it in a pot, and we'll keep it here at the gallery so he can collect it when he's next in London. Seems fair to me."

Labels: Jack White