Easy Life have conceded defeat in their legal battle with EasyJet owner EasyGroup. The band announced last night that they will change their name after a couple of final shows with their current moniker this week.
In an update posted to their website, the band said: “This all came to a head last night, and 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”.
The band revealed last week that EasyGroup had taken legal action against them, accusing them of infringing its EasyLife and EasyJet trademarks. In fact, the company went so far as to call them “thieves”, saying in a statement that it has "a long established record of legally stopping thieves from using our brands”.
The band denied that they had been attempting to trade off an association with the EasyGroup brands with their name. However, in its lawsuit, EasyGroup highlighted a poster the band used for their Life's A Beach tour in 2021 and 2022, which featured an image of an EasyJet plane, but with the EasyJet logo reworked to say Easy Life.
In last night’s statement, the band continued: “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”.
“We’re not a nameless company; as you’ve seen, it’s our own personal names on the paperwork”, they went on. “This means that should we lose, the costs will be recouped from us personally. They could take everything; material possessions, our livelihoods, our homes”.
So, the band have announced that they will play two final shows as Easy Life this week. First at Leicester’s Academy venue tomorrow, and then at Koko in London on Friday.
However, they note that, despite agreeing to change their name, this is not the end of their legal battle. They state: “Even though we aren’t able to fight this, we now need to go into a period of legal mediation with EasyGroup about what happens next. We’re really hoping they might be gracious about this”.
“Perhaps our case will help provoke a dialogue around legal reform and justice being available to all”, they conclude. “However, I fear such conversations will fall on deaf ears”.
Tickets for this week’s farewell shows are on sale now. The band have not indicated when they might announce their new name.
