“Thanks so much for celebrating our story with us,” was the message from Easy Life, after taking part in their remaining gigs below that identify. “See you later, maybe never.”
For the band and their hundreds of followers, hopefully there can be one other chapter.
The two gigs, rapidly organised for London and their hometown of Leicester, got here lower than two weeks after they introduced they had been being sued by simpleGroup, holding firm for easyJet and different “easy” manufacturers, over their identify.
While it appeared “hilarious” to the band at first, they shortly realised this was no joke. In simpleGroup’s lawsuit it was identified they’d used a picture of an orange and white airplane, just like the branding for easyJet, for his or her Life’s A Beach tour, amongst different accusations about reputational harm. In an announcement, EasyGroup founder and chairman Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou labelled them “brand thieves”.
The band’s supporters – together with fellow musicians comparable to Professor Green, Arlo Parks and Mahalia, a number of MPs, plus UK Music chair and deputy Labour chief Tom Watson and Tom Gray, the chair of the Ivors Academy – argued any similarities had been tongue in cheek and innocent, with loads of followers providing to help a crowdfunder to lift cash for authorized charges.
Easy Life themselves stated they had been “certain in no way have we ever affected their business”.
‘David v Goliath’
It was a blow that seemingly got here from nowhere after an enormous yr: their largest ever headline present at London’s Alexandra Palace and plans for a 3rd album to comply with their first two in 2021 and 2022, which each charted at quantity two within the UK. In 2022, they performed Glastonbury’s well-known Pyramid Stage. It was all a great distance from their first gig – “no one was there, lol”, they joked on Instagram not too long ago – in 2015.
But after initially hoping to combat the case, which they stated would value a whole bunch of hundreds of kilos, they had been pressured to concede defeat, realising basically it was “David vs Goliath – and our British legal system favours Goliath”.
“Perhaps our case will help provoke a dialogue around legal reform and justice being available to all,” they wrote in a letter to followers shared on their web site.
EasyGroup have launched related lawsuits earlier than, detailing these which were profitable on their web site – and hitting out at those that “think they can make a fast buck by stealing our name and our reputation”.
‘We are very assured’
James Moir, head of the charity purchasing web site easyfundraising, understands the band’s state of affairs, as his firm is dealing with an identical declare by simpleGroup, introduced in February 2022. Mr Moir says they’ll combat their case in court docket in 2024 – once more, at a price of a whole bunch of hundreds of kilos.
“It’s been incredibly drawn-out,” he stated. “It’s a difficult thing to take on, hugely costly. We are very confident, that’s part of the reason we’re fighting this, but even [if you win] you don’t get all your fees back. So this is going to cost us.”
Easyfundraising’s firm trademark was accepted in 2010, he stated, and there’s nothing “remotely similar” to the simpleGroup model – except for the phrase.
“It’s ludicrous,” he stated. “No one owns the word ‘easy’.”
Mr Moir stated he sympathises with Easy Life having to make the “impossible decision” to not combat the case, including: “There’s got to be a more sensible way that would be better, fairer for smaller organisations, better for not clogging up the court systems. Let’s be honest, this is about corporate bullying. That’s what’s at the heart of it.”
An simpleGroup spokesperson stated it will not remark additional on the band at the moment following their choice to alter their identify. Of the motion towards easyfundraising, the spokesperson stated the corporate was “protecting the consumer from any confusion – remember as brand thieves they are not subject to our product/service standards”.
The spokesperson continued: “It needs to be repeated that many of our partners use the easy brand name and get up as part of their business strategy – in return for an annual royalty. It cannot be remotely fair for other third parties to just pick it up and use it for free.”
Can you declare possession of a phrase?
Several trademark and authorized specialists have been following the authorized row because the story made headlines originally of the month.
Emma Kennaugh-Gallacher, senior skilled help lawyer at mental property (IP) specialists Mewburn Ellis, says simpleGroup has “long been zealous in policing the use of what it considers to be its proprietary ‘easy+’ mark”, however case regulation to this point signifies “there is by no means an assumption that they can simply claim ownership to any easy+ phrase”.
It is determined by context and historical past of use, amongst different elements, she added.
Josh Schuermann, IP knowledgeable for worldwide regulation agency Reed Smith’s Entertainment & Media Group, says there was a rise in some of these instances lately, because of social media making it “easier than ever” to create content material and share info.
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Helen Wakerley and Isabelle Tate, companion and affiliate respectively at IP regulation agency Reddie & Grose, stated that whereas simpleGroup doesn’t personal the phrase “easy” it may argue that hyperlinks could be made to its manufacturers. Any motion towards the identify of the band alone “would have made things more challenging” for simpleGroup, they stated – nonetheless, Easy Life’s use of easyJet livery on merchandise and tour posters had “muddied the issue”, as “there is no parody defence to trademark infringement, which exists in copyright law”.
And Jill Bainbridge, contentious mental property companion on the Harper James regulation agency, stated that whereas the case could “be regarded as a David v Goliath situation”, simpleGroup leaving a perceived infringement unchallenged may “open the door for others to follow suit”.
‘There ought to be a faster method’
For the artists now previously referred to as Easy Life, the case has introduced an abrupt finish to a band that was very a lot on the up. Fans now stay hopeful of seeing them return below a brand new identify.
For easyfundraising, they await their day in court docket. “We remain confident,” says Mr Moir. “But I think this brings into question, how cases like this continue to be allowed to be brought.
“If an organisation comparable to ourselves has had a trademark accepted for 13 years and there’s, you recognize, a really, very fast understanding and you’ll look and say, we’re in fully totally different sectors, we do fully various things, we do not have an orange brand – a really, very fast take a look at to show that there isn’t a passing off [as another brand].
“Is there not a better way that cases like this could be dealt with? It just seems wrong on every level.”
Source: information.sky.com”