Phish in court this afternoon to block bootleg merchandise

NORFOLK

Representatives for the jam-band Phish are due in federal court this afternoon to argue that it should be allowed to stop bootleggers from selling T-shirts, jackets, bumper stickers and other merchandise bearing its trademarked name during its upcoming reunion tour.

The band, which raked in $175.5 million in concert revenues before going on hiatus in 2004, has asked a federal judge here to allow its representatives and police to seize any unauthorized merchandise at its three Hampton Coliseum shows, which open the band's nationwide tour, and at venues across the country.

The injunction would stop any bootlegged sales and allowing for the seizure of unauthorized property.

Phish's shows are more of a community event, with dozens of vendors set up outside concert halls hawking everything from clothes to glassware to so-called Phish Food, another in a series of the band's trademarked products. Authorized vendors are licensed by the band.

Phish had ranked in the top 25 of the highest-grossing tour bands for many years until the group disbanded in 2004. One year earlier, the band grossed $37.8 million, coming in 15th on the annual list of top-selling concert tours, according to Pollstar, a concert trade group.

The Hampton shows, beginning today, will be Phish's first since 2004, kicking off its reunion tour.

In the lawsuit, the band could only identify possible bootleggers as John Doe 1 through John Doe 100 because "bootleggers have also been difficult if not impossible to identify ahead of Phish's concert schedule because they are generally nomadic individuals."

The issue isn't necessarily about money, the lawsuit says. The band says the unauthorized merchandise sales "threaten" the band's reputation because it relinquishes control over the quality and appearance of the merchandise, according to the suit.

"Surely such illicit activity cannot be in the public interest," the suit says.

The band say s the unauthorized merchandise is also of inferior quality and that the band's charities, which receive a cut of the authorized sales, lose money from bootleg sales.

Phish has obtained similar restraining orders prior to past tours. The suit says dozens of other bands have, as well, including Marilyn Manson, The Who, Spice Girls and U2. A few federal judges, however, have denied a handful of requests, typically because they come at the 11th hour with little chance of anyone responding.

Some major acts, such as the Grateful Dead, don't bother seeking such injunctions and allow for open-air markets outside shows.

But Phish claims bootleggers have been a "plague" at their shows.

The band has asked the federal judge to order the U.S. Marshals Service and local and state police to seize any unauthorized property within a 20-mile radius of Hampton Coliseum from 10 hours before to six hours after each performance this weekend. The band also asked that the order be extended to each venue it performs at this year.

A spokesman for Hampton Coliseum did not respond to messages Wednesday.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com