Joe Francis serves Madonna with lawsuit

Joe Francis is not one to be messed with, even for the Queen of Pop.

TMZ reported the creator of Girls Gone Wild is threatening Madonna with a lawsuit if she performs her new song, “Girls Gone Wild,” at the Super Bowl Sunday night.

Francis’s lawyers have already sent the Material Girl a cease-and-decist letter.

According to the New York Daily News, the 38-year-old’s legal action has nothing to do with any feuds with the singer.

“This isn’t personally directed at Madonna as a person, this is a business decision. And now she’s aware that she stepped over the line,” his lawyer David R. Houston said. “If Mr. Francis was producing a product called ‘Material Girl,’ and she had a copyright, I doubt she’d appreciate it.”

Houston said that his client learned about the song within 24 hours of it being posted on iTunes for preorders of Madonna’s new album, MDNA and that Francis owns the trademark phrase.

“I agree ‘Girls Gone Wild’ is part of the lexicon and people use it quite a bit, but when it’s used for commercial profit, it’s important for us to protect ‘Girls Gone Wild’ as the brand he’s spent decades developing,” Houston said.

And while Madonna never explicitly said she would be performing the song, only that she would be playing “three old songs and one new song,” Houston said through extensive research he was able to make a strong assumption.

“Your attempt to ‘free ride’ on the valuable consumer goodwill and brand recognition of my clients’ trademark constitutes ... unfair competition, and false designation of origin, trademark infringement, and trademark dilution,” he said.

Madonna has yet to respond to the suit.