Indiana's Legal Battle Over "Love" Knockoffs

Pop artist Robert Indiana thought all he needed was Love, but his multicolored 1960s masterpiece featuring the loaded word in Sanskrit now has him entangled in a legal battle with a former business partner. John Gilbert claims the now-81-year-old artist signed an agreement to license his well-known logo in August 2007 in both Sanskrit and English. But after earning $100,000 on the deal, Gilbert says the iconic sculptor reneged on the deal and denied the replicas were authentic. The disgruntled Gilbert says Indiana’s alleged actions prevented him from fulfilling current and prospective contractual agreements, hence his New York lawsuit for unspecified damages. But the artist countersued because he says he never signed the agreement Gilbert is talking about and that his partner instead stiffed him on sales as per a 1995 deal. Indiana is seeking all profits from the sales from his home on an isolated island off the coast of Maine, where both sides are expected to meet and settle the case this month.