Gorgoroth Name Dispute

The Gorgoroth name dispute refers to a legal dispute between musicians from Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth over who had ownership of the band's name, which was derived from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. The parties to the dispute were band founder Infernus (Roger Tiegs) and members Gaahl (Kristian Espedal) and King ov Hell in Norway for subsequent similar disputes.

Overview

Background

Gorgoroth was formed in 1992 by guitarist Infernus. Between 1993 and 1998, the band released one demo - ''A Sorcery Written in Blood'' (1993), three studio albums - ''Pentagram'' (1994), ''Antichrist'' (1996) and ''Under the Sign of Hell'' (1997), and one EP - '' The Last Tormentor'' (1996). Infernus wrote much of the material on ''Pentagram'' and the entirety of ''Antichrist'' and ''Under the Sign of Hell'', and he performed the bass lines on the latter two albums. This period saw several line-up changes - as would happen throughout the band's history - as well as extensive live performances which included two European tours. The band was signed to the major German heavy metal record label Nuclear Blast after being approached by them on their headlining European tour in 1997. This would be crucial for Gorgoroth to earn the attention of a wider audience through Nuclear Blast's distribution facilities in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Vocalist Gaahl joined Gorgoroth in 1998, and was heard on the title track of ''Destroyer'' (1998). Bassist King ov Hell joined the band in 1999 and made his studio debut on ''Incipit Satan'' (2000), which was also the first Gorgoroth album to feature Gaahl as the main vocalist. Between 2002 and 2004, King composed the Gorgoroth songs that would comprise the majority of those on ''Twilight of the Idols'' (2003) and the entirety of those on ''Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam'' (2006), the only Gorgoroth releases between 2000 and 2007. Gaahl wrote lyrics for two songs ''Incipit Satan'', the majority of those on ''Twilight of the Idols'' and the entirety of those on ''Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam''. By the summer of 2007, three songs written by King and five songs with lyrics written by Gaahl were played in live performances.

Although Infernus contributed little material to ''Twilight of the Idols'' and none to ''Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam'', he conceived the titles of the albums, rooted in his Satanism and his influences by Friedrich Nietzsche. He also continued to participate in the production and mastering of Gorgoroth albums. His songs also continued to comprise the majority of the material performed live. He reportedly had begun work on new material for a new album in October 2006 and was first reported writing it in March 2007, the title for which he revealed to be ''Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt'' in October 2007. Furthermore, Infernus continued to promote the band and its releases in interviews and by other means such as the ''Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam'' listening session in Berlin, May 2006, as did King through interviews and seminars in the United States. The prominence of Infernus and King was further reinforced through their statuses as official band contacts as well as through the sleeves of albums such as ''Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam'' - Infernus in particular was emphasised as "Satan's Minister on Earth" and he was largely responsible for negotiations with Regain Records.

More controversy surrounded the band in this period, which resulted from a controversial performance in Kraków, Poland in 2004 after which the relations with Nuclear Blast ceased, Gaahl and Infernus receiving prison sentences for excessive violence and gross negligent rape respectively, and appearances made by Gaahl in the media. It was in part because of some of these events that ''Twilight of the Idols'' and ''Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam'' were the only Gorgoroth releases in this time period.

Claims of Gaahl and King ov Hell to the name

Publicly, Gaahl and King cited multiple reasons behind their decision to exclude founding member Infernus and work under the name Gorgoroth. The claims most frequently iterated throughout the dispute were allegations of Infernus investing no interest in promoting Gorgoroth or participating creatively, and that he was abusive and disrespectful towards promoters, session members and other working partners, while Gaahl and King had "creatively defined" Gorgoroth throughout a period of eight years. Other claims also included Gaahl's apparent objection to Infernus' support of the late Euronymous' ''Never Stop the Madness'' campaign through his now-defunct Deathlike Silence Productions label, while King felt averse to being with Infernus in the wake of the guitarist's rape allegations and eventual conviction for 'gross negligent rape'.

Their decision had been made by summer 2007, and it was in September that King ⁠ ⁠—  with the assistance of Anders Odden of Cadaver and Satyricon⁠ ⁠—  filed a trademark application to Patentstyret for the name and logo of Gorgoroth.

Response of Infernus

Although Infernus declared he would not defend himself against any accusations about him raised throughout the dispute and did not directly counter the claims of Gaahl and King outside of formal environments, he nevertheless stated that he could be "difficult to work with", and stated that Gaahl and King should have decided to adopt a new name instead.

Meanwhile, Infernus' work on ''Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt'' had been reported various times in the media.

Claims

Select clauses of the Patentstyret Trademark Act, such as § 2. and § 14. 7., were cited in Infernus' favour throughout the dispute and determined the eventually concluded illegality and invalidity of King's trademark application, which also failed to satisfy § 8.:

§ 2. The exclusive right to a trademark may also be acquired without registration when the trademark is established by use.

A trademark is considered to be established by use when it is well known within the circle of trade concerned in this country as a distinctive sign for someone's goods.

§ 14. A trademark may not be registered if:

7. it is liable to be confused with a trademark which someone else has started to use before the applicant, and the applicant was aware of this use when he filed his application for registration;

§ 8. Even though a registered trademark is liable to be confused with a sign which has an earlier right, it shall be allowed to co-exist validly with the latter, provided the application for registration was filed in good faith and the holder of the earlier right has knowingly tolerated the use of the later trademark in this country for five consecutive years from the date of registration.

Misconceptions

Frequent misconceptions perpetuated throughout the dispute by various media outlets such as ''Terrorizer Magazine'' were that the acceptance of King's trademark application by Patentstyret between December 2007–January 2008 was a court verdict, and that at least one lawsuit had taken place prior to the one Infernus filed in September 2008, which reached Oslo District Court in January 2009.

History

Prelude (September 2007)

In September 2007, King, with the assistance of Anders Odden from Cadaver and Satyrion, filed a trademark application to Patenstyret for the name and logo of Gorgoroth.

Departure from Infernus (October–November 2007)

In October 2007, Infernus announced on the band's official Myspace page that "a decision to split up the band" had been made with him on one side, and Gaahl and King on the other. The statement explained that the members were unable to continue working together any longer and further noted that both sides intended to continue under the band's name. A statement from Gaahl and King was also issued on the same day. Gaahl issued another statement two days later claiming that the band had not split up but "continued on in a different form." The statement further claimed that Infernus had not been a creative force throughout the course of eight years and had "shown no interest in the art fdefining Gorgoroth during that same period of time." Infernus responded on the following day with a statement noting that he claimed the legal right to band's name as "the founder and only original member of the band."

Gaahl and King announced that Hellhammer of Mayhem and Dimmu Borgir would join them on drums from the beginning of 2008, however this did not materialize for unknown reasons. Teloch of Nidingir (who had also previously been a live session member for Gorgoroth) and Nick Barker (formerly of Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir) were also revealed as members of their touring line-up.

Another statement (intended to be the 'last in a line of short open letters to the media') from Infernus arrived a week later claiming that Gaahl had "been considering quitting the band numerous times" while King had left the band the previous year "due to difficulties combining playing in a clear-cut Satanic metal band as Gorgoroth with the fact that he is full-time employed as a primary school teacher." Infernus further noted that as the band's founding member, he would "not agree on giving away the name erightfully own to heirthird vocalist and sixth or seventh (!) bass player for whatever reasons they might have." Furthermore, he said that he was in the process of finishing and preparing the material he reportedly started in October 2006 and was first reported writing when he was released on parole in March 2007, declaring the title to be ''Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt''.

King's trademark application was revealed by Infernus to the public, and that this was done without the latter's knowledge. Infernus' attorney Egil Horstad of Vogt & Wiig warned Gaahl and King that this application was in abrogration of select sections of the Patentstyret Trademark Act. On their November European tour, which Gorgoroth had been scheduled to embark on several months before the split, Gaahl and King frequently used the name "The Force Gorgoroth", and there also existed a King ov Hell/Gaahl trademark application for this band name.

Acceptance of King's trademark application by Patentstyret (December 2007 – January 2008)

In December, Regain Records issued a press release announcing their decision to "continue the co-operation with the band's original member Infernus with a new line-up" and that the label recognised "Infernus as the rightful owner of the bands name, logo and trademark" as well as their preparation "to take any legal steps necessary to prevent any third party from exploiting it, artistically and commercially." A week later, Gaahl and King delivered a statement claiming that it had been "legally determined" by the Norwegian patent office

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