Guns N ‘Roses takes legal action to thwart sales of counterfeit concert shirts

Guns N ‘Roses recently released their massive “We’re F’N’ Back!” tour of North America, and they aim to reap as much loot as possible, in part by bringing lawsuits that prevent vendors from selling counterfeit t-shirts that will nibble at the profits of the group’s merchandise, Bloomberg reports.

Smugglers are rife outside of large-scale concerts, often roaming the parking lots of the sites and selling facsimiles of official concert shirts for a fraction of the price. Global Merchandising Services Ltd., which retains the exclusive rights to sell Guns N ‘Roses merchandise at concerts in the United States, has filed lawsuits in cities along the group’s route to prevent these vendors from peddling their illicit wares. .

“These smugglers are, plainly and simply, parasites who take advantage of the tremendous energies and reputation of performers,” Global Merchandising attorney Kenneth Feinswog said in an Aug. 2 New Jersey court filing. three days before the band played at the MetLife in East Rutherford. Stadium. The case lists singer Axl Rose (W. Axl Rose), guitarist Slash (Saul Hudson) and bassist Duff McKagan (Michael McKagan) as plaintiffs as well as Global Merchandising. Rose, Slash and McKagan formed three-fifths of the classic Guns N ‘Roses lineup and own the group’s trademark.

Feinswog added that “over the past 35 years of tremendous commercial growth in popular music,” music fans have “sought to identify with and declare allegiance to their favorite performers by purchasing various merchandise, t- shirts, patches, posters, photographs, jerseys, caps, belt buckles, jackets and other items that embody the names, photos, likenesses, logos, trademarks and / or illustrations of these artists. This statement of allegiance “is the reason for which fans will pay over $ 35 for a t-shirt bearing the artist’s name or image, which t-shirt could otherwise be retailed (without that name or image) for $ 4.00 ” .

Feinswog also said that smugglers “appropriate the names, likenesses, logos, symbols, illustrations and / or trademarks of performing artists and musical groups” and asserted: “To add insult to injury to insult, the merchandise that smugglers manufacture and sell is, in most cases, of inferior quality and not only violates the rights of claimants, but adversely affects the general public and irreparably damages the reputation of excellence and integrity of performers in the pursuit of their professional careers.

The official concert merchandise is a hugely profitable business for a band of Guns N ‘Roses stature. Court records show the group generated more than $ 15 million in merchandise. Clothing on the band’s official online store ranges from $ 15 face masks to $ 500 leather jackets, while concert items include city-exclusive posters, hats, t-shirts and more. .

Yet the group’s strategy to target street smugglers on their current tour is unorthodox. Jayne Durden, vice president of law firm strategy at Boston-based intellectual property management firm Anaqua, said it was more common for artists to prey on distributors of these non-commercial products. official. “It’s Whac-A-Mole, but with a huge paddle making noise,” she said. Bloomberg.

Rather than pursuing smugglers for money, Guns N ‘Roses received court orders in Boston and New Jersey allowing police and federal commissioners to seize contraband goods in a certain vicinity of the premises in the six hours before the shows and three hours before them.

So far, the orders appear to have been successful: Security seized 417 contraband shirts outside the band’s concert in East Rutherford and 240 outside their show in Detroit days later, according to court documents. Rose, Slash, McKagan and Global Merchandising also reportedly applied to a New Jersey federal judge for a general seizure order that would apply to the remainder of their tour dates, which include arenas and stadiums in the United States and Mexico.

This type of lawsuit is not unique to Guns N ‘Roses. In 2018, Global Merchandising filed a similar complaint on behalf of metal band Slayer at the start of their farewell tour. Live Nation sought a similar court order for Ozzy Osbourne’s Ozzfest in 2010, as did AC / DC on their 2016 tour.

Guns N ‘Roses’ current North American tour will run through mid-October and is expected to attract around 400,000 fans. They will travel to Australia and New Zealand in November and cross Europe in 2022. With a new single, “Absurd” now out and their classic streaming hits by the billions, it doesn’t look like any Guns member N ‘Roses is strapped for cash, damn the smugglers.