Metallica Merch Company Files Lawsuit to Stop Sale of Bootleg Shirts at Their Shows

Metallica is at the center of a new lawsuit involving their merchandise company trying to prevent the sale of bootleg shirts outside of their shows.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Merch Traffic filed its lawsuit in a St. Louis federal court on Thursday (Oct. 26). The lawsuit claims bootleggers are violating the Metallica trademark when selling faux tees.

The lawsuit notes, “The infringing merchandise is of the same general appearance as plaintiff’s merchandise and is likely to cause confusion among prospective purchasers. Further, the infringing merchandise sold and to be sold by defendants is generally of inferior quality.”

Merch Traffic also prints official shirts for a wide range of artists. They include Bruce Springsteen, Thomas Rhett and Harry Styles. The company has filed similar suits in New York, Texas and New Jersey before Metallica shows. (Metallica is playing the Dome at the America’s Center on Nov. 3 and 5.)

After their shows in St. Louis, Metallica wraps up the first North American leg of their world tour on Nov. 10 and 12 at Ford Field in Detroit.

The “M72 No Repeat Weekend Tour” Rolls On

Metallica’s big tour in support of their latest album, 72 Seasons, has seemingly gone off without a hitch. The only negative thing that seemed to have happened was in September. As previously reported, night two of Metallica’s two-night stand in Glendale, Calif. was postponed after James Hetfield tested positive for COVID-19.

At the time, the band shared via social media, “We’re very sorry to report that tomorrow’s scheduled M72 date at State Farm Stadium has been postponed to Saturday, September 9, 2023, as, unfortunately, COVID has caught up with James. We’re extremely disappointed and regret any inconvenience this has caused you; we look forward to returning to complete the M72 No Repeat Weekend in Glendale next Saturday.”

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