Spoiler Room, a Copenhagen-based collective who stage events that allow artists to share and hone creative works in progress, have been forced to change their name after receiving a scary cease and desist letter from dance music streamer Boiler Room. Now called SPOILR, the collective will stage a ‘funeral’ for their original name in the Danish capital tomorrow.
The collective’s founder, Lewis Parker, writes on Instagram, “I recently received a letter from lawyers representing Boiler Room threatening to pursue legal action for infringement of their trademark, unless we cease use of the name Spoiler Room”.
He adds that he “had no idea how to react to this”, because, “we don't shape what we do on the work of Boiler Room, nor do we wish to be associated with them”. He picked the name Spoiler Room back in 2022 when setting up what he sees as “a vulnerable space” where creators can “share and connect”, because it was “fun and accurate for a place where artists come and ‘spoil’ their demos”.
After a stint being owned by ticketing company Dice, Boiler Room was acquired in January 2025 by festivals business Superstruct, which is itself owned by private equity outfit KKR. That private equity ownership proved controversial last year because of KKR’s investments in Israel, which were criticised by some in the context of the conflict in Gaza.
In the same way that controversy resulted in a backlash against some of Superstruct’s festivals, the same happened with Boiler Room, which was forced to put out a statement stressing that KKR “has investments that categorically do not align with our values”.
That statement added “no investor, past or present, has ever influenced our output, this will never change”, before concluding, “we will always remain unapologetically pro-Palestine”.
It’s not currently clear whether the cease and desist letter sent to Parker over his use of the Spoiler Room brand was instigated by Boiler Room’s management or the streaming platform’s parent company. Though Parker says he felt “the pressure of Boiler Room’s multibillion dollar investment firm on my shoulders” once the stern cease and desist letter arrived.
He adds that he wishes he could afford to push back against Boiler Room’s trademark claim, not least because he and his legal advisor do not believe Spoiler Room is actually infringing the Boiler Room trademark. However, the legal costs of fighting back would be prohibitive, especially given the big pockets of Superstruct and its owner, which makes it easier to simply rebrand.
“We don’t have the funds to pursue a long drawn out legal battle with a company owned by a huge private equity firm”, he writes, which means “we have seen ourselves forced to change our name from Spoiler Room to SPOILR”.
He then concludes, “It is scary, because the only thing we have right now is the small DIY community we built and the voices of that community. We are volunteer driven and have next to no money to work with. I hope these voices will help keep the momentum we have been building during this transition”.