Gail Zappa was the second wife of the late musician and composer Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

 and is the executrix of the Zappa Family Trust. They met in 1966 when she was working at the Whisky a Go Go

Whisky a Go Go

The Whisky a Go Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip.-History:...

 in Los Angeles, and they were married on September 21, 1967, while she was pregnant with her first child, Moon Zappa

Moon Zappa

Moon Unit Zappa is an American actress, musician and author. She goes by the name Moon Zappa; "Unit" is her middle name.-Personal life:...

. The marriage also produced children Dweezil Zappa

Dweezil Zappa

Dweezil Zappa is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor.-Early life:Zappa was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of musician Frank Zappa and Adelaide Gail Sloatman, who worked in business. He is the second of four siblings: his older sister, Moon, younger sister Diva and younger...

, Ahmet Zappa

Ahmet Zappa

Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa is an American musician, actor and novelist.-Early life:Ahmet was born in Los Angeles, California, the third of four children born to businesswoman Adelaide Gail Sloatman and musician Frank Zappa. Ahmet's father was of Sicilian, Greek-Arab and French descent and his...

, and Diva Zappa

Diva Zappa

Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen Zappa is an American artist, also known for several acting roles in film and television, as well as recording a one-off comedy single. She is the youngest daughter of musician Frank Zappa.-Personal life:...

. She is an aunt to model/actress Lala Sloatman

Lala Sloatman

Lala Cassandra Sloatman is an American model, actress and costumer. Her uncle was musician Frank Zappa; her cousins are Ahmet, Diva, Moon and Dweezil Zappa. She is frequently billed by her first name only, and sometimes as Lala Zappa....

.

Gail made a very brief appearance with musician boyfriend Bobby Jameson

Bobby Jameson

Robert Parker Jameson , known as Bobby Jameson, is an American singer and songwriter, who was briefly hyped as a major star in the early 1960s and later recorded with The Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa and others...

 in the 1967 documentary film Mondo Hollywood

Mondo Hollywood

Mondo Hollywood is a documentary "mondo movie" by Robert Carl Cohen, released in 1967. Filmed over the preceding two years, it was described by Variety as a "flippy, trippy psychedelic guide to Hollywood".-Description:...

. The scene was filmed in 1965 or 1966 before she met Frank.

Since Frank Zappa's death in 1993, she has overseen the release of his recordings, including multiple previously unavailable works, under the Zappa Family Trust. The Trust

Trust law

In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another...

 holds title and copyright

Copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

 to Frank Zappa's musical and artistic products, as well as his commercial image. In this capacity, she often sends cease and desist

Cease and desist

A cease and desist is an order or request to halt an activity and not to take it up again later or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization....

 letters to venues hosting bands playing the music of and paying tribute to her late husband based upon use of the trademark

Trademark

A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...

ed brand "Zappa" in advertising the content of a given concert. Although no U.S. lawsuits have been filed, one such band was forced to cancel a show during their 2008 tour due to pressure from the Zappa Family Trust.

Trademark goatee and lawsuit

In 2008, the Zappa Family Trust sued the organizers of the Zappanale

Zappanale

Zappanale is an annual music festival held outside Bad Doberan, a German town previously part of East Germany. The festival was first held in 1990, and the program features various bands performing the music of the late composer and guitarist Frank Zappa...

 Festival, held just outside Bad Doberan

Bad Doberan

Bad Doberan is a town in the district of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It was the capital of the former district of Bad Doberan. As of 2010 its population was 11,325.-Geography:...

, Germany, demanding that they change the name of the festival, remove their promotional posters (which contained an allegedly trademarked moustache similar to Frank Zappa's) and remove the statue of him that has stood in the city center since the 1990s. In January 2009 the court found in Zappanale's favor after their defense argued that since the Zappa Family Trust only sells products on the Internet and accepts only U.S. dollars they had not effectively exercised their trademarks in Germany for over five years. Similarly, the use of the moustache was sufficiently different in Zappanale's merchandise so as not to cause confusion between the two.

Sources