Canadian band The Tragically Hip has launched a lawsuit against Mill Street Brewery over the promotion of their 100th Meridian Amber Lager that allegedly rides “on the coattails of one of the most beloved bands in Canadian music history.”
Mill Street is a subsidiary of Labatt, which is owned by the large Belgian multinational brewer AB InBev.
In the lawsuit filed in Federal Court on Tuesday, The Tragically Hip allege that Mill Street has infringed on its trademark and has tried to “pass off on the fame, goodwill and reputation” of the band.
“Mill Street has engaged in a course of conduct to, unilaterally and without permission, ride on the coattails of one of the most beloved bands in Canadian music history by marketing its beer with reference to The Tragically Hip and one of its many quintessentially Canadian chart-topping tracks, ‘At the Hundredth Meridian,’” the lawsuit claims.
“Mill Street deliberately amplified those efforts during The Tragically Hip’s final and nationally celebrated tour, which was precipitated by the announcement that the band’s iconic frontman, Gord Downie, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.”
“At The Hundredth Meridian” was a hit single on the Hip’s 1992 album “Fully Completely.” Its title refers to the line of longitude that marks the beginnings of the Great Plains.
The Tragically Hip allege that Mill Street used the band’s name in the social media promotional campaign for its lager beer (Photo submitted by The Tragically Hip)
“Many of you are probably under the impression that we are associated with Mill Street’s 100th Meridian beer – we are not,” the band said.
“We knew there is some confusion out there, but we didn’t know how much until recently.”
The group also sais it tried to sort things out with Mill Street for months but were unsuccessful.
“They didn’t take us seriously and were frankly disrespectful,” the band said in its statement. “We have been around for a long time, and have always been able to work things like this out without a lawsuit. Unfortunately, not this time.”
In addition to demanding that Mill Street stop using their name and their photos in the promotional campaign for the lager and delete all their social media posts referring to the band, The Tragically Hip are also seeking $500,000 in punitive, aggravated and exemplary damages.
Mill Street has not yet filed a statement of defence.
With files from The Canadian Press
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