In the first stage of the ongoing drama of Greg Ginn's legal proceedings against FLAG and Henry Rollins, the courts have ruled against Ginn. A judge has ruled that SST has no legal rights to the Black Flag copyright or logo, meaning the rest of Ginn's case is looking flimsy.

The story below appeared on the SPIN website.

FLAG's camp now says Ginn lost his "preliminary injunction" against Keith Morris' band FLAG and Henry Rollins, not the actual lawsuit. The lawsuit has not and could still go to court, but this ruling essentially says that it has very little chance of holding up.

In Ginn's opinion, there can only be one Black Flag, and though the other fellas are playing under a modified name, they shouldn't use the handle they've adopted or the iconic Black Flag logo. (It doesn't help that they've all been playing the same songs.) Further, Ginn accused Rollins of using and abusing the legacy too, and alleged that both Morris' unit and Rollins attempted to secure their rights to the Black Flag copyright by manufacturing or selling (or something) bootleg records and T-shirts.

The details seemed hazy to begin with and the legal action appeared not a little bit petty, plus futile considering how many key membership changes the band went through over the years. No surprise, the decision is in and the court ruled against Ginn and his iconic Southern California punk label SST.

A judge found that: SST has no rights to the Black Flag copyright; Ginn has no special rights to any of the trademarks; neither Ginn nor the label gave a damn about copyrghts or trademarks until now; Rollins never quit Black Flag (!); fans are smart enough to know which band is which; and nobody tried to screw anybody over, so let's all give it a rest.

Here's what all of that looks like in legalese, via FLAG's camp:

(1) the court found that SST had no rights in the trademarks;
(2) Ginn seemed to have no individual rights in the Black Flag trademarks;
(3) even if either had had any rights in those marks, they had abandoned those rights through a failure to police the mark for nearly 30 years;
(4) the defendants’ claim that the Black Flag assets were owned by a statutory partnership comprised of various former band members – even if these members only consisted of Henry and Ginn, based on (a) accepting Ginn’s argument that he never quit and given that there is no evidence or allegation that Henry ever quit – has merit;
(5) that even if the plaintiffs had some trademark claim in the marks, there was no likelihood of consumer confusion between Black Flag and Flag given the ample press coverage over the dispute; and
(6) the trademark application and registration that Henry and Keith made was done in good faith (e.g. not fraudulently) – and is thus not necessarily subject to cancellation – given that they understood their actions to have been done on the part of the Black Flag partnership (see No. 4, above).

Original post in regards to the story is below...

In a move that has surprised no one really, SST Records and Black Flag founder Greg Ginn has filed a breach of copyright against current FLAG members Keith Morris, Dez Cadena, Chuck Dukowski, Bill Stevenson and Stephen Edgerton, as well as Henry Rollins while he is at it too. It seems Ginn has adopted the theory of 'if you can't beath them, then sue them."

The suit describes the alleged infringement of the iconic bars logo designed by Ginn's brother Raymond Pettibon and the use of the name "Flag" as "a colorable imitation" that's "likely to cause confusion, mistake or deception among consumers." Ginn is also seeking an injunction against the upcoming FLAG tour and appearance at FYF Fest.

Ginn accuses Henry and Keith 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.

Click here to read a copy of the full suit filed by Ginn.

Ironically all former Black Flag and Descendents members who have released records on Ginn's label SST have never been paid artist royalties either. No word yet out of the Flag camp, but with legal proceedings having begun, it will probably be pretty hush, hush.

Greg Ginn has now released a statement regarding the dispute:

The dispute over Black Flag is not motivated by an effort to stop anyone from covering Black Flag songs. Quite to the contrary. Henry Garfield (Rollins) and Keith Morris made an effort to hijack the name for their own use. Behind everyone's back Garfield and Morris last year filed a fraudulent trademark application in which they are claiming to own the name. Had we not taken action, this pair could have snuck this false application through enabling them to stop Black Flag from playing and use of the name for themselves.

-- Black Flag