It’s a (sort of) happy ending between feuding bandmates that were trying to resurrect separate factions of the same band. Black Flag has settled its ongoing trademark lawsuit against former members of the band, who had formed a separate project that they were calling FLAG.
Black Flag founder Greg Ginn is currently trying to get the band going again, leading a Black Flag reunion effort. The problem was, he wasn’t the only band member who’d had the idea. Former Black Flag members Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena and Bill Stevenson, along with Descendents guitarist Stephen Egerton, decided they’d create their own offshoot, and call it FLAG.
Last year, Ginn sued the group, claiming that the name FLAG was owned by SST Records, along with the band’s logo. Saying that second use of the name FLAG was likely to confuse people, Ginn filed the lawsuit. In addition to that problem, former member Dukowski had sued Black Flag in the past for shares of band profits. Part of his original settlement was that he wouldn’t use the band’s name to make any kind of money. But a judge struck down Ginn’s injunction, saying Black Flag couldn’t use the copyright argument in this case.
But in the end, the two groups were able to work it out. They now say the bands’ names will stay as they are, meaning that Black Flag can keep its name and image, and FLAG can continue performing under that name. There’s no word on how they reached the settlement or whether they’ve really buried the hatchet. But for now, the reunion show can go on for both groups.
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