Culture

Un-Easy change: British pop group Easy Life forced to change name after airline easyJet brand owner files lawsuit

13 Oct 2023

British pop group Easy Life.

Gulf Today Report

British indie pop group Easy Life have been forced to change their band name after easyGroup, the majority shareholder in airline company easyJet, filed a lawsuit claiming their name infringed on a company trademark.

EasyGroup accused the band of infringing on the rights of the online retailer Easylife because their name is too similar. Easylife is an independent website that licenses its name from easyGroup for an annual fee.

The band have now decided against defending the high court lawsuit, saying that the financial cost of doing so would be too expensive.

“We have realised that there are no good options available to us, and we need to change our name to move forward,” they wrote in a statement on Tuesday 10 October.

“We simply don’t have the funds to access a fair trial in the high court. Not to mention the fact that this would likely rattle on through to 2025, and with this hanging over us we wouldn’t be able to release any music in the meantime. Our careers, and indeed our lives, would be on hold.”

They added: “Should we lose [the case], the costs will be recouped from us personally. They could take everything; material possessions, our livelihoods, our homes.”

Two concerts have been announced in Leicester and London later this week, which will mark the band’s last performances under the Easy Life name.

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In a video shared on Instagram, Matravers explained that if they had challenged the lawsuit, they would have been embarking on a “two-year fight against a multi-billion dollar corporation”. Matravers also added that the band felt “intimidated” by the company’s legal action, according to the Independent.

EasyGroup’s lawsuit against the band has attracted condemnation from fans of the band on social media, as well as MPs. Harriet Harman – MP for Camberwell and Peckham, where the band live – wrote on Twitter/X: “Hi @easyJet please confirm that you are withdrawing the legal action launched against my constituents’ band @easylife forthwith.”

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour MP for Leicester South, also wrote on X: “This is ludicrous from @easyJet – you’ve got my full support @easylife – I’ll do all I can to help.”

Kevin Brennan, Welsh Labour MP for Cardiff West, also wrote on X: “How about supporting young artists rather than crushing them with corporate greed?”

EasyGroup has declined to comment when the Independent contacted them.

EasyGroup filed the lawsuit last week, arguing the brand had infringed on its trademark through its brand name and via merchandise that appeared to imitate the easyJet logo, and a tour poster with a plane illustrated with signage that resembled that same logo.

In a statement made last week, the company labelled Matravers and his fellow band members as “brand thieves”.

It said: “With reference to the brand thief Mr Matravers and his fellow band members who have decided to use our brand, easyLife, without permission.

“We have a long established record of legally stopping thieves from using our brands and I am confident we will stop Mr Matravers.”

In a statement, The Guardian reports that the company said the band had engaged in “the deliberate misleading of the consumer to think that they are part of the 'easy' family in order to increase their own sales … Mr Matravers has intentionally used easyGroup’s well known stylisation and images of easyJet planes in his marketing."

EasyGroup had said they were seeking “substantial” financial damages.

The parent company has a long history of launching legal action against companies that it believes use similar names to its family of brands.

EasyGroup, which was set up in 1998 by owner Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has a section of its website called “brand thieves”, which lists its international legal battles to protect the company’s intellectual property.

In 2018, the easyGroup took legal action against Netflix over its comedy series Easy, claiming its use of the name breached its European trademarks. In 2008, the Northampton-based restaurant easyCurry changed its name under the threat of legal action.

“Some people think they can make a fast buck by stealing our name and our reputation,” it says on the site. “They set up websites and companies using the name ‘easy’ (or phonetic versions of it) which can either pay a passing resemblance to an easyGroup company or be a direct copy.”