EasyJet founder is now suing producer-DJ Easyfun for “mimicking” their brand
The company accuses Easyfun of trying to “mimic easyGroup’s famous branding to create instant brand recognition for his ‘DJing business.”
Credit: Steve Rogers Photography/Getty Images
Following its recent lawsuit against English indie band Easy Life, EasyJet is now taking electronic producer-DJ Easyfun to court for attempting to “mimic” their brand.
Easyfun – real name Finn Keane – has been accused of “alleged deliberate misappropriation” of EasyGroup’s trademarks, including the company’s “well-known orange styling as used by its family of brands”.
The claim was brought by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder and owner of EasyJet’s licensing company EasyGroup. PC Music and its label founder A.G. Cook have also been named as defendants in the legal proceedings.
According to EasyGroup, Keane has “taken unfair advantage of and damaged the significant reputation attaching to easyGroup’s trade marks”. The company also accused the artist of trying to “mimic easyGroup’s famous branding to create instant brand recognition for his ‘DJ’ ing business.”
In particular, EasyGroup took issue with Keane’s cover art for his 2015 EP Deep Trouble, which originally featured swimwear-cladded passengers sliding into the ocean via a plane’s evacuation slide.
The brand claimed it was “seriously concerned” by the depiction of a “serious aircrash”, stating: “Not only is the artwork in bad taste but an association with such a tragic event risks seriously damaging the reputation in easyGroup’s trade marks, in particular easyJet.”
Responding to Haji-Ioannou’s lawyers, Keane wrote. “If your client is annoyed at some of the artwork or images that they think mimics the easyFamily get up, that has always been completely tongue in cheek.”
“It’s very obvious that it’s meant as a joke and I really struggle to understand why your client has any reason to be concerned about it.”
“That said, I obviously don’t want to be stuck in a legal dispute with a big company like your client and so I have removed the examples in your letter where I can and will seek to avoid similar artwork in the future.”
Keane has since changed the cover art for Deep Trouble.
