NORFOLK, Va. (AP) – Any bootleggers seeking to make a quick buck this weekend off reunited jam-rockers Phish will be violating a court order, but they apparently won’t have to worry about the band’s representatives trying to seize their contraband.
U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson said Thursday that he will issue an injunction barring the sale of unlicensed merchandise when Phish launches its national reunion tour Friday night at the Hampton Coliseum in southeastern Virginia.
But the judge denied a request by the band’s lawyers to allow Phish workers to confiscate bootleg T-shirts, posters, recordings and other merchandise.
“There’s no way the court is going to issue a seizure order,” Jackson told the lawyers at a hearing on the eve of Phish’s return to the stage after a nearly five-year hiatus.
The judge said the band’s lawyers failed to follow proper legal procedures in seeking the order. They were required to first notify the U.S. attorney’s office, then file the motion under seal, he said.
Amy Marino, an attorney for the band, declined to comment after the hearing because Jackson’s rulings were not yet official. The judge said he would issue the injunction Friday.
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