Metallica File 41-Page Cease and Desist Letter To Canadian Cover Band

Update: The band says an “overzealous attorney” is to blame for the cease and desist, and they’ve given Sandman permission to carry on. Read all about that here.

In what many people will probably call a dick move, Metallica have filed a cease-and-desist order to the band that calls themselves the best Metallica tribute in Canada, Sandman.

But there’s a catch: This cease-and-desist order is not one, not two, not even three but FORTY ONE pages long. Wow.

So what caused Metallica to issue this letter? Sandman’s logo, which Metallica’s lawyers think is a little bit too close to the logo used during the days of  St. Anger. Look below:

I guess it’s easy to see where they’re coming from since the logos are completely identical other than the letters used. Metallica have the copyrights for their logos and that means that other people can’t use them. But at the same time, Sandman are a cover band, which means that although they aren’t asking for money, Metallica are effectively threatening to sue groups of fans who like the band so much that they spend time practicing and performing their music. Yeah sure, you can’t use other people’s stuff to make money without their permission, but for fuck’s sake, Sandman are a COVER BAND who probably don’t make a whole lot of money doing it in the first place.

So you tell us: Are Metallica justified in doing what they’re doing or are they just being dicks?

[via Metal Injection]