As with any great band making a comeback, it seems the quarrels, or lawsuits, come before the tours even finish. Two versions of Black Flag reunited this year to make things confusing for fans: Black Flag (led by Greg Ginn) and FLAG (comprised of Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena, Bill Stevenson, and Descendents guitarist Stephen Egerton). Now it seems fans weren’t the only ones to be confused. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Greg Ginn and his label, SST Records, have sued both FLAG and former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins over the use of the band’s name and iconic four bar logo.

Apparently Ginn has the rights to “FLAG,” and the logo rights belong to SST Records exclusively. The lawsuit says that FLAG’s use of both are a “colorable imitation… likely to cause confusion, mistake or deception among consumers.” For those not following closely enough, FLAG’s use of the two imply that the band is the same, or that changes never occurred since those members left in 1979 while Black Flag carried on for several years after.

Much of the suit focuses on Dukowski. He actually sued Ginn and SST Records in 2007, saying he deserved a share of Black Flag’s revenue since he was still a member of the band. The end results of that 2007 suit left Dukowski agreeing to never perform under– or make use of–the Black Flag name or logo for profit.

Henry Rollins’ part in all of this is that he and Morris filed to take the “Black Flag” trademark, which SST Records and Ginn own. He is named as a defendant in the case.

Read the entire suit here. Is Ginn acting out of line? Is this all deserved? Leave your opinion in the comment section below.

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Nina Corcoran

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