Easy Life legal row: The charity brand taking on easyGroup – and what happens next for Leicester band?

Published

2 years ago

October 21, 2023

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“Thanks so much for celebrating our story with us,” was the message from Easy Life, after playing their final gigs under that name. “See you later, maybe never.”

For the band and their thousands of fans, hopefully there will be another chapter.

The two gigs, hastily organised for London and their hometown of Leicester, came less than two weeks after they announced they were being sued by easyGroup, holding company for easyJet and other “easy” brands, over their name.

While it seemed “hilarious” to the band at first, they quickly realised this was no joke. In easyGroup’s lawsuit it was pointed out they had used an image of an orange and white plane, similar to the branding for easyJet, for their Life’s A Beach tour, among other accusations about reputational damage. In a statement, EasyGroup founder and chairman Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou labelled them “brand thieves”.

The band’s supporters – including fellow musicians such as Professor Green, Arlo Parks and Mahalia, several MPs, plus UK Music chair and deputy Labour leader Tom Watson and Tom Gray, the chair of the Ivors Academy – argued any similarities were tongue in cheek and harmless, with plenty of fans offering to support a crowdfunder to raise money for legal fees.

Easy Life themselves said they were “certain in no way have we ever affected their business”.

‘David v Goliath’

It was a blow that seemingly came from nowhere after a huge year: their biggest ever headline show at London’s Alexandra Palace and plans for a third album to follow their first two in 2021 and 2022, which both charted at number two in the UK. In 2022, they played Glastonbury’s famous Pyramid Stage. It was all a long way from their first gig – “no one was there, lol”, they joked on Instagram recently – in 2015.

But after initially hoping to fight the case, which they said would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, they were forced to concede defeat, realising essentially it was “David vs Goliath – and our British legal system favours Goliath”.

“Perhaps our case will help provoke a dialogue around legal reform and justice being available to all,” they wrote in a letter to fans shared on their website.

EasyGroup have launched similar lawsuits before, detailing those that have been successful on their website – and hitting out at those who “think they can make a fast buck by stealing our name and our reputation”.

‘We are very confident’

James Moir, head of the charity shopping site easyfundraising, understands the band’s situation, as his company is facing a similar claim by easyGroup, brought in February 2022. Mr Moir says they will fight their case in court in 2024 – again, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“It’s been incredibly drawn-out,” he said. “It’s a difficult thing to take on, hugely costly. We are very confident, that’s part of the reason we’re fighting this, but even [if you win] you don’t get all your fees back. So this is going to cost us.”

Easyfundraising’s company trademark was approved in 2010, he said, and there is nothing “remotely similar” to the easyGroup brand – aside from the word.

“It’s ludicrous,” he said. “No one owns the word ‘easy’.”

Mr Moir said he sympathises with Easy Life having to make the “impossible decision” not to fight the case, adding: “There’s got to be a more sensible way that would be better, fairer for smaller organisations, better for not clogging up the court systems. Let’s be honest, this is about corporate bullying. That’s what’s at the heart of it.”

An easyGroup spokesperson said it would not comment further on the band at this time following their decision to change their name. Of the action against easyfundraising, the spokesperson said the company was “protecting the consumer from any confusion – remember as brand thieves they are not subject to our product/service standards”.

The spokesperson continued: “It needs to be repeated that many of our partners use the easy brand name and get up as part of their business strategy – in return for an annual royalty. It cannot be remotely fair for other third parties to just pick it up and use it for free.”

Can you claim ownership of a word?

Several trademark and legal experts have been following the legal row since the story made headlines at the beginning of the month.

Emma Kennaugh-Gallacher, senior professional support lawyer at intellectual property (IP) experts Mewburn Ellis, says easyGroup has “long been zealous in policing the use of what it considers to be its proprietary ‘easy+’ mark”, but case law so far indicates “there is by no means an assumption that they can simply claim ownership to any easy+ phrase”.

It depends on context and history of use, among other factors, she added.

Josh Schuermann, IP expert for international law firm Reed Smith’s Entertainment & Media Group, says there has been an increase in these types of cases in recent years, due to social media making it “easier than ever” to create content and share information.

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Helen Wakerley and Isabelle Tate, partner and associate respectively at IP law firm Reddie & Grose, said that while easyGroup does not own the word “easy” it could argue that links would be made to its brands. Any action against the name of the band alone “would have made things more challenging” for easyGroup, they said – however, Easy Life’s use of easyJet livery on merchandise and tour posters had “muddied the issue”, as “there is no parody defence to trademark infringement, which exists in copyright law”.

And Jill Bainbridge, contentious intellectual property partner at the Harper James law firm, said that while the case may “be regarded as a David v Goliath situation”, easyGroup leaving a perceived infringement unchallenged could “open the door for others to follow suit”.

‘There should be a quicker way’

For the artists now formerly known as Easy Life, the case has brought an abrupt end to a band that was very much on the up. Fans now remain hopeful of seeing them return under a new name.

For easyfundraising, they await their day in court. “We remain confident,” says Mr Moir. “But I think this brings into question, how cases like this continue to be allowed to be brought.

“If an organisation such as ourselves has had a trademark approved for 13 years and there is, you know, a very, very quick understanding and you can look and say, we’re in completely different sectors, we do completely different things, we don’t have an orange logo – a very, very quick test to prove that there is no passing off [as another brand].

“Is there not a better way that cases like this could be dealt with? It just seems wrong on every level.”

Entertainment

Dolly Parton is ‘going to be just fine’, country singer’s sister says

Published

14 hours ago

October 8, 2025

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Dolly Parton is 'going to be just fine', country singer's sister says

Dolly Parton’s sister has said that the country singer is “going to be just fine” after worrying fans by asking for prayers.

Freida Parton had asked people for prayers for the Jolene and I Will Always Love You singer on Tuesday.

“Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately,” Ms Parton wrote in a Facebook post.

“I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been [led] to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.

“She’s strong, she’s loved, and with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!”

After shocked fans took to social media expressing worry about Parton’s health, her sister said in a second post on Wednesday: “I want to clear something up. I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly.

“She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister.”

It comes after Parton announced in September that she had to postpone her upcoming Las Vegas residency over “health challenges”.

“As many of you know, I have been dealing with some health challenges, and my doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures,” the singer said at the time.

“As I joked with them, it must be time for my 100,000-mile check-up, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon!”

Parton said she was postponing the shows because she is “not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see. You pay good money to see me perform, and I want to be at my best for you”.

The country star was set to perform six shows at Caesars Palace in December, but her performance dates have been moved to September 2026.

“Don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet,” Parton said as she announced the postponement of her shows. “But I believe he is telling me to slow down right now so I can be ready for more big adventures with all of you.”

Entertainment

Robin Williams’s daughter begs people to stop sending her AI videos of her father

Published

1 day ago

October 7, 2025

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Robin Williams's daughter begs people to stop sending her AI videos of her father

The daughter of late actor Robin Williams has begged people to stop sending her AI-generated “slop” of her father.

“Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” actor and director Zelda Williams wrote on Instagram on Monday.

“To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that’s enough’, just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening.”

She described the videos as “disgusting, over-processed hotdogs” made from the lives of human beings.

“You’re […] shoving them down someone else’s throat hoping they’ll give you a little thumbs up and like it. Gross,” she wrote.

It’s not the first time Williams has written about the impact of people sending her content about her father on social media.

In 2020, on the anniversary of her father’s death, Williams posted on Instagram saying:

“While I am constantly touched by all of your boundless continued love for him, some days it can feel a bit like being seen as a roadside memorial – a place, not a person – where people drive past and leave their sentiments to then go about their days comforted their love for him was witnessed.”

“But sometimes, that leaves me emotionally buried under a pile of others’ memories instead of my own.”

The death of Robin Williams in 2014, an actor and comedian known for his quick wit and wisdom, triggered a global outpouring of grief and tributes to the star still frequently surface on social media to this day.

In 2023, Zelda appealed for the end of AI-generated content, saying in a widely-reported post on Instagram:

“I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like Dad. This isn’t theoretical, it is very very real.”⁠
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“I’ve already heard AI used to get his ‘voice’ to say whatever people want and while I find it personally disturbing, the ramifications go far beyond my own feelings.”

Entertainment

Author Dame Jilly Cooper has died

Published

2 days ago

October 6, 2025

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Author Dame Jilly Cooper has died, her publisher has said.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dame Jilly Cooper, DBE who died on Sunday morning, after a fall, at the age of 88,” a statement said.

The Queen paid tribute to Dame Jilly, calling her a “legend” who was a “wonderfully witty and compassionate friend”.

The best-selling author was renowned for her raunchy, so-called “bonkbuster” novels, which portrayed the scandals and sex lives of wealthy country social circles, including Rivals, Riders and Polo.

She was praised for her blend of risqué storylines and critique of Britain’s class system, personified by showjumping lothario Rupert Campbell-Black.

Her children Felix and Emily said: “Mum was the shining light in all of our lives. Her love for all of her family and friends knew no bounds.

“Her unexpected death has come as a complete shock.

“We are so proud of everything she achieved in her life and can’t begin to imagine life without her infectious smile and laughter all around us.”

Dame Jilly was propelled to commercial success in the 1980s, and sold 11 million copies of her books during her more than fifty-year career.

Last year, Rivals was adapted into a successful TV series, which she worked on as an executive producer.

Tributes to author who created ‘a whole new genre’

Dame Jilly was a long-standing friend of the Queen.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, she said: “I was so saddened to learn of Dame Jilly’s death last night.

“Very few writers get to be a legend in their own lifetime but Jilly was one, creating a whole new genre of literature and making it her own through a career that spanned over five decades.

“In person she was a wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many – and it was a particular pleasure to see her just a few weeks ago at my Queen’s Reading Room Festival where she was, as ever, a star of the show.

“I join my husband the King in sending our thoughts and sympathies to all her family.

“And may her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.”

The author’s many fans included former prime minister Rishi Sunak, who said the books offered “escapism”.

‘Dame Jilly defined culture’

Her agent Felicity Blunt said: “The privilege of my career has been working with a woman who has defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago.”

She added: “You wouldn’t expect books categorised as bonkbusters to have so emphatically stood the test of time, but Jilly wrote with acuity and insight about all things – class, sex, marriage, rivalry, grief and fertility.”

The executive producers of the Disney+ adaptation, Rivals, said they are “broken-hearted” and “her legacy will endure”.

Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alex Lamb added: “Jilly was and always will be one of the world’s greatest storytellers, and it has been the most incredible honour to have been able to work with her to adapt her incredible novels for television.”

As tributes rolled in on Monday, TV presenter Kirsty Allsopp wrote on X: “I know 88 is a good age, but this is very sad news.

“A British institution, funny, enthusiastic and self-deprecating, we don’t see enough of it these days.”

Her publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said: “Jilly may have worn her influence lightly, but she was a true trailblazer.

“As a journalist she went where others feared to tread, and as a novelist she did likewise.

“With a winning combination of glorious storytelling, wicked social commentary and deft, lacerating characterisation, she dissected the behaviour, bad mostly, of the English upper middle classes with the sharpest of scalpels.”

The ‘unholy terror’

Born in Essex in 1937, Jilly Cooper came from a Yorkshire family known for newspaper publishing and politics.

Her writing career began in 1956 as a junior reporter on the Middlesex Independent, covering everything from parties to football.

She had said she was known as the “unholy terror” at school, and was sacked from 22 jobs before finding her way into book publishing.

Dame Jilly started writing stories for women’s magazines in 1968, and found her break in 1969 when The Sunday Times published a story on being an ”undomesticated” homemaker. It gave rise to a column that lasted over 13 years.

In 2019 she won the inaugural Comedy Women in Print lifetime achievement award, and in 2024 was made a dame for her services to literature and charity.

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