The owner of budget airline easyJet has launched into a contentious legal fight with a U.K. pop band to force it to change its name, after accusing its members of being brand thieves.
EasyGroup, which owns or licenses several brands under the “easy” name and has a long history of defending its brand in court, has said it is suing the Leicester-based band Easy Life for copyright infringement.
The Times of London first reported that the group accused the band of borrowing its name from the home and garden retailer Easylife, a company for whose name easyGroup charges a licensing fee but has no financial interest in.
Easy Life, which released its first single in 2017 and is fronted by Murray Matravers, has more than 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The band’s two albums, Life’s a Beach and Maybe In Another Life, have both reached no 2 in the U.K. charts.
In a statement published on Instagram and X, the band confirmed it was being sued for using the name Easy Life.
“They’re forcing us to change our name or take up a costly legal battle which we could never afford. Although we find the whole situation hilarious, we are virtually powerless against such a massive corporation,” the band wrote.
A representative for easyGroup didn’t immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
However, in a statement to several outlets including The Guardian and the BBC, the group said: “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.”
Following easyGroup’s statement, the band posted a response on its social media platforms, detailing a timeline from its first gig in 2015 through to the release of its debut album in 2021.
It then referenced easyGroup’s application to trade mark the Easylife name, registered in August 2022. The band signed off by saying: “Sorry, who is the brand thief here ?”
It’s currently unclear whether the band will enter into a legal battle with easyGroup, or simply change its name. A representative for Easy Life didn’t respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Aggressive history
EasyGroup has an aggressive history of battling entities it claims have stolen the “easy” brand from them.
Indeed, the company has a page on its website dedicated to its various legal victories against these so-called “brand thieves.”
“Some people think they can make a fast buck by stealing our name and our reputation,” the company writes on its website as a rationale for its short shrift with similar-sounding brands.
In 2018, the Guardian reported that easyGroup founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou was suing Netflix over its comedy series Easy, demanding the company name the series something else for its European audience.
At the time a representative for Netflix told the Guardian: “Viewers can tell the difference between a show they watch and a plane they fly in.”
Sir Stelios’s battles over his brand haven’t always ended with the founder coming out on top. In 2018, the group lost a suit brought against car dealer Arnold Clark over its payment system Easy Pay, the Times of London reported.
This isn’t even the company’s first lawsuit against an entity using the title “easy life.”
In 2021, the group tried to sue the Easylife company to which it now licenses its name. However, a High Court judge sided with Easylife on all accusations of copyright infringement.
“Crucial to the court’s reasoning was that the word “easy” is a descriptive word and is therefore not distinctive,” according to an analysis of the case by 11 South Square, a firm specializing in intellectual property law.
The group later trade marked the name, leading to its latest lawsuit against the band Easy Life.
