Easy Life announce final gigs before name change
Indie pop group Easy Life say they will play two final shows before changing their name after being hit with a trademark infringement lawsuit by the owner of the EasyJet brand.
The Wasserman Music-booked five-piece have announced two dates at short notice – a hometown show at O2 Academy Leicester tomorrow (12 October) and a gig at London’s Koko on Friday.
EasyGroup, which acquired the trademark for ‘EasyLife’ in July 2022, launched legal action against the band, accusing them of “riding on the coat tails of the valuable reputation” with their name, along with merchandise and posters.
The BBC reports that the band, who have been called Easy Life since 2015 and released their first single two years later, had promoted their 2021/22 Life’s a Beach tour with a poster showing a plane in the style of Easy Jet branding, and had also produced T-shirts in the company’s branded style.
“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,” say court documents cited by the broadcaster.
In a statement posted on their website, the band, who have not revealed their new name, say: “Having explored literally every possible avenue, we have realised that there are no good options available to us, and we need to change our name to move forward.
Our final day as the ‘easy life’ you know is probably Friday – fittingly Friday the 13th
“Sadly, it seems that justice is only available to those who can afford it. 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.
“Our final day as the ‘easy life’ you know is probably Friday – fittingly Friday the 13th. We have managed to get some shows together (literally booked last night), and we really hope as many of you as possible will be able to come and join us for the farewell parties. It’s with the deepest sadness that I confirm once again, that we, as Easy Life, will be playing our final shows this week.”
The band add that they “now need to go into a period of legal mediation with Easy Group about what happens next”.
In a previous statement, a spokesperson for Easy Group said: “Stelios [Haji-Ioannou] and Easy Group founded and now own the right to the easy brand name.
“Other companies, including Easylife [the catalogue company], pay annual royalties for its use as part of their business strategy. We cannot allow others to simply use it free, gratis and for nothing. That would be unfair.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.