British band forced to change name after being sued by easyJet owner
A British band have announced that they're going to be changing their name after a lawsuit from the owner of easyJet.
The band, formerly known as Easy Life, recently posted on social media that they'd been told by easyGroup - the majority owners of easyJet - that legal action was being launched against them.
They claimed that the lawsuit demanded the group, which formed in 2017, change their name or face legal ramifications.
Advert
In a statement issued on social media the band said that while they 'find the whole situation hilarious', they were 'virtually powerless against such a massive corporation'.
Unfortunately for the band they now appear to have considered it inevitable that the easyJet owners would win any legal struggle as they made a statement yesterday (10 October) informing fans of the change.
"We have realised that there are no good options available to us, and we need to change our name to move forward, the band formerly known as Easy Life said in their statement.
"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. Should we lose [the case], the costs will be recouped from us personally.
"They could take everything; material possessions, our livelihoods, our homes."
The band will make two final performances as Easy Life this week in Leicester and London on 12 and 13 October before giving up their original name.
In a legal claim, easyGroup accused the band of promoting a tour in 2021 and 2022 with an easyJet plane modified so it said Easy Life instead.
The easyJet owners also said that the band had made t-shirts with their name on it but in the style of easyJet.
Their legal document said: "By wrongly creating a link with the claimant, the defendant benefits from an association with that positive view and vast brand recognition, regardless of whether the link was intended to be provocative or humorous."
It went on to say that the band was 'riding on the coat tails of the valuable reputation' of easyJet and considered their claim to have a 'substantial' financial value.
They also argued that other companies including catalogue company Easylife pay easyGroup annual royalties.
easyGroup declined to comment to LADbible for legal reasons when approached about this situation.
Joe Harker