Easy Life announce final shows amid legal dispute with Easy Jet
Easy Life have announced details of their final two shows amid their ongoing legal dispute over their name with airline Easy Jet.
Last week, the Leicestershire indie group revealed news of the lawsuit and claimed the airline was forcing the band to change their name. As Easy Life aren’t in a financial position to fight the case, they’ve backed down but before they retire the moniker, they will play Leicester’s O2 Academy on October 12th and London’s KOKO on October 13th.
In a statement, Easy Life said: “I appreciate we’ve got some explaining to do here – so much has happened in this last 10 days and it’s been a whirlwind, please forgive me for not sharing more detail sooner – 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.”
“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,” they said.
The statement continued: “We’re not a nameless company; as you’ve seen, it’s our own personal names on the paperwork. This means that should we lose, the costs will be recouped from us personally. They could take everything; material possessions, our livelihoods, our homes.”
Addressing fans, Easy Life noted: “You can imagine the turmoil this has caused us, but I really hope this helps you understand our situation. We have found solace in the outpourings of love and support, for which we are all grateful for beyond words.”
The Leicestershire group added: “I’m writing this on Tuesday, now in the knowledge that 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.”
“Even though we aren’t able to fight this, we now need to go into a period of legal mediation with Easy Group about what happens next. We’re really hoping they might be gracious about this, and we are hopeful for the opportunity to finally put out the song we know you’ve been wanting for years. Still not as we’d imagined, but it’s a song for you guys and we want you to have it,” they also noted.
The band concluded by saying: “It’s with the deepest sadness that I confirm once again, that we, as easy life, will be playing our final shows this week. Perhaps our case will help provoke a dialogue around legal reform and justice being available to all, however I fear such conversations will fall on deaf ears. Who knows what will happen next, every storm runs out of rain eventually.”
Easy Life’s latest comments arrive after easyGroup, the parent company of Easy Jet, explained in a statement to Far Out: “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.”
The claim lodged by easyGroup with the courts reads: “The Claimant is the private investment vehicle of Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (Sir Stelios), the well-known entrepreneur and founder of the airline easyJet (easyJet).”
It continues: “The Claimant owns, runs and/or licences numerous brands of a large number of enterprises in a broad range of businesses, all of which trade under a name comprising of the word ‘easy’ followed by a word or words appropriate to their field of operation.”
“Those businesses are referred to herein as ‘the Easy Family’. For the reasons set out further below, the trade of those businesses has led to the Claimant owning the Easy Family of Marks Reputation. For reasons of proportionality, not all businesses said to comprise the Easy Family are particularised herein,” the case concludes.
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