Apocalyptica forced to pay Rammstein £38,000

Apocalyptica have been forced to pay Rammstein €45,000 (£38,000) after admitting in court to copyright infringement.

The complaint stemmed from the advertising campaign for Apocalyptica's 2007 album ‘Worlds Collide’, on which Rammstein’s Till Lindemann was one of the guest vocalists. The CD was sold with a sticker across its cover that said it featured "Rammstein" and not just Lindemann.

The case was heard before the Regional Court of Berlin last month, with Rammstein awarded the money in damages as Apocalyptica were deemed to have broken trademark infringement, reports German legal news website Anwalt24.de.

Apocalyptica, who recorded entirely instrumentally until 2005, were recently forced to drop Shinedown singer Brent Smith from their new single 'Not Strong Enough' as they’d failed to secure the rights to use his voice from Shinedown's record label. He has been replaced by Hoobastank's Doug Robb.