“The point we tried to make is that we encourage these gentlemen to go out and play,” Jeremiah Reynolds, who represents the estate of original Sublime singer Bradley Nowell, explained in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “We think they’re great musicians. We just don’t think it’s appropriate to call a group that doesn’t have Bradley [Nowell] and has a new lead singer Sublime. It’s consistent with Brad’s intentions that we seek to protect the name. The court agreed that Bud and Eric and the new lead singer didn’t have the right to go out and call themselves Sublime.”
If you remember, the family of former Sublime singer Bradley Nowell had threatened legal action if Wilson and Gaugh continued to perform under the Sublime name. The family claims that before he died of a heroin overdose on May 25, 1996, Nowell trademarked the Sublime name to ensure it wasn’t used without him being a part.
As the Times goes on to report, the injunction will be upheld until the breach-of-contract/trademark infringement civil case goes to trial, or the parties reach a settlement. Of course, we’ll keep you updated.