Guns N’ Roses Sues Oskar Blues Brewery

Legendary rock band Guns N’ Roses is suing the company that owns the Oskar Blues Brewery over a beer they’ve released without the group’s permission.

Here’s what we know…

Guns N’ Roses have filed a trademark lawsuit against the CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective’s Oskar Blues Brewery for releasing a beer called Guns ‘N’ Rosé without the band’s permission.

In its Thursday California court filing, the band argued, that consumers are likely to be confused by the beer’s branding and could reasonably assume it is an official partnership, according to The Blast.

Oskar Blues has been selling the disputed ale in cans and kegs since 2018, as well as other merchandise bearing the brew’s name.

“The brewery filed an application to register “Guns N Rose” as a trademark last August,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, “which prompted the band’s business manager to reach out and attempt to resolve the dispute.”

According to the complaint, the brewery did abandon its initial trademark application and even agreed to stop selling Oskar Blues Guns ‘N’ Rosé (and the swag associated with that beer), but not until March 2020.

In court documents, which have been viewed by American Craft Beer, the band argues that the brewery “should not be entitled to continue to sell infringing products and intentionally trade on the GNR’s goodwill, prestige, and fame without GNR’s approval, license, or consent”.

Guns N’ Roses is suing for trademark infringement and seeking unspecified damages.

Oskar Blues Brewery has not yet responded to the lawsuit.

According to The Guardian “the band have faced numerous lawsuits in the past: separate claims by former members Steven Adler and Chris Pitman over unpaid earnings were both settled, and they were also sued in 2008 by German ambient musician Ulrich Schnauss, after two of his pieces were used on Chinese Democracy. The band denied the claim, saying they had been told the samples had been sourced legitimately.”

Guns N’ Roses banner image credit: Guns N’ Roses