With the help of a judge, lawyers for Mike Love and his former Beach Boys bandmate Al Jardine today resumed efforts to settle litigation related to their past feud over use of the band’s name.

The current case centers around Love’s request for about $2 million in attorneys’ fees spent in previous litigation against Jardine in federal court.

A mandatory settlement conference that began yesterday morning and continued until about 8:30 last night failed to produce a resolution, so the attorneys and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Alexander Williams were back in court this morning in a last-ditch bid to settle the case before the scheduled April 14 trial date.

Love and Brother Records Inc., the Beach Boys’ corporate identity, sued Jardine in April 2003 for fronting a group that used various versions of the Beach Boys name.

Jardine had been touring under the names "Beach Boys Family & Friends," "Al Jardine, Beach Boy" and "Al Jardine of the Beach Boys" until a federal judge, ruling in a copyright infringement case brought by Love, that the singer-guitarist could not use any reference to "Beach Boys."

Jardine’s lawyer, Lawrence C. Noble, maintains in his court papers that the request for the fees should be denied because it was not made in federal court.

According to the suit, Love is the sole licensee, through Brother Records, to perform under the name "Beach Boys." Jardine "did not agree to abide by terms of a proposed license," so he was denied use of the name, the suit states.

A federal appeals panel in 2003 upheld a previous finding by U.S. District Court Judge Harry Hupp that Jardine cannot use the band’s name for his own projects.

—From news services

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