Easy Life have said that EasyJet’s licensing company EasyGroup are suing them because their names are apparently too similar.
The band shared a statement to their social media accounts, in which they claimed the company was “forcing” them to change their name or they risked facing a costly legal battle.
The NME Award-winning band have released two acclaimed albums – 2022’s ‘Maybe In Another Life‘ and 2021 debut ‘Life’s A Beach‘. They have been active since 2017.
“okay… never imagined having to do this but we’ve no choice but to address the situation we find ourselves in,” the band wrote on social media. “as some of you have already discovered, we are being sued, easy jet are suing us for being called easy life.
“they’re forcing us to change our name or take up a costly legal battle which we could never afford. we’ve worked hard to establish our brand i’m certain in no way have we ever affected their business.
“although we find this whole situation hilarious, we are virtually powerless against such a massive corporation. i don’t really know what else to say, will keep you lot updated. for those of you who bought gig tickets and ended up on a budget flight to tenerife, i apologise, for the rest of you, thank you so much for your support”.
Since reporting, EasyJet contacted NME to inform them that the legal battle was in fact being carried out by EasyGroup – the Cayman Islands-registered company owned by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou built to expand the “easy” brand into the fields of hotels, supermarkets, financial services and more – licensing out the “easy” name.
In response, an EasyGroup spokesperson told NME: “Stelios and easyGroup founded and (now) own the right to the easy brand name.
“Other companies (including easyLife) pay annual royalties for its use as part of their business strategy. We cannot allow unauthorised third parties to simply use it free, gratis and for nothing. That would be very unfair.”
— easy life (@easylife) October 2, 2023
Meanwhile, frontman Murray Matravers recently spoke to NME at Reading Festival about the band’s rapid rise so far and their definitions of success.
“If you had of asked me two or three years ago, I would have said, ‘Huge gigs and international critical acclaim and being famous’. But I think, now, it’s definitely not that, and I don’t want that,” he considered.
He added that “if you’re happy in what you do, then you’ve smashed it”, and that “if you’re enjoying it, and you’re healthy, and you’re healthy in your mind as well, that for me is success. Because that’s not always been the case”.
Matravers also shared that he’s been doing “a lot of working on myself and trying to figure out that exact question” which has helped him realise that “health and happiness are the most important things”.