Black Flag founder sues 'Flag' reunion line-up for copyright infringement

There was a bit of confusion following the announcement earlier this year that two separate line-ups of legendary hardcore-punk outfit Black Flag were to reform, each under a different name. But now it’s been revealed that there’s (predictable) legal tensions ongoing between the two factions.

The two reunions see 1979-80 vocalist Ron Reyes take the copyrighted Black Flag name, teaming up with founding member Greg Ginn on guitar and Roberto “Robo” Valverde on drums, while the other band – going by the shortened name of ‘Flag’ – consists of Chuck Dukowski, Bill Stevenson, Keith Morris and Dez Cadena.

As The Hollywood Reporter note, Ginn has filed a lawsuit against Flag – with the group’s most famous and popular vocalist Henry Rollins cited as a defendant in the case.

Ginn claims ownership of the Black Flag trademark under his label SST Records, accusing the reformed offshoot, as well as Rollins, of “lying to the Trademark Office on registrations; using his own label’s record covers to feign as though they’ve been continuing to use Black Flag since 1979, and in an what’s alleged to be an act of ‘outrageous fraud,’ using bootleg SST t-shirts in an attempt to show they’ve been making such products in that time.”

He also calls the Flag reunion a “colorable imitation” which is “likely to cause confusion, mistake or deception among consumers”.

Both reformed line-ups are currently touring.

[via CoS]