Led Zeppelin is tired of counterfeit merchandise being sold online and is taking legal action to block the sale of unlicensed T-shirts, posters and other items.

US court filings in the Northern District of Illinois seen by LedZepNews reveal that Led Zeppelin hired the US law firm AM Sullivan Law and is seeking to stop unlicensed Led Zeppelin merchandise being sold on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Alibaba and Wish.

“In an effort to illegally and deceptively profit from the Led Zeppelin Trademarks and Led Zeppelin Copyrights, Defendants created numerous online marketplace accounts and online stores … intentionally designed in look, feeling, and suggestion to give the impression to consumers that they are legitimate websites,” Led Zeppelin’s lawyer wrote in the band’s complaint.

The band’s lawyer alleged that counterfeit merchandise sellers use online advertising to “misdirect consumers who are searching for genuine Led Zeppelin Products.”

Counterfeit merchandise sales are causing “substantial monetary loss” and “irreparable injury” to Led Zeppelin, the band’s lawyer alleged.

The band is seeking a maximum of $2 million in damages per type of counterfeit item sold in addition to blocking future unlicensed merchandise sales.

You can read Led Zeppelin’s full legal complaint below or through Scribd here:

Led Zeppelin Complaint by James Cook

Led Zeppelin started its latest legal action anonymously earlier this year, successfully arguing to the court that revealing the band’s identity in the legal action straight away would give sellers time to hide their online stores and move money out of accounts.

Led Zeppelin can now be publicly identified as the plaintiff in the case, with the band using its British company Superhype Tapes for the legal action as it owns the trademarks to the Led Zeppelin brand around the world.

It appears that Led Zeppelin’s war on counterfeit merchandise is starting to work. A legal filing published in November stated that “several financial accounts associated with the Defendant Internet Stores have been frozen.”

A legal filing made by Led Zeppelin’s lawyer on December 15 reveals the targets of the band’s desired crackdown on unlicensed merchandise.

The filing contains a list of sellers that Led Zeppelin argues should be blocked from trading counterfeit Led Zeppelin items. The list includes sellers of T-shirts, phone cases and posters – all of which Led Zeppelin claims are being sold illegally without royalties being paid to Led Zeppelin.

Some of the online shops have already been deleted. Others remain online and continue to sell Led Zeppelin-branded merchandise.

The new legal action, started by Led Zeppelin on October 22, is only the latest stage of the band’s war against counterfeit products. Similar legal actions were taken in 2020, LedZepNews can reveal.

Jimmy Page appears prepared to vigorously defend Led Zeppelin’s intellectual property. He personally gave evidence in a Scottish court in 2007 in the trial of bootleg recording seller Robert Langley, known as “Mr. Toad,” who was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

“The legitimate part is where fans trade music, but once you start packaging it up and you do not know what you are getting, you are breaking the rules legally and morally,” Page told fiscal Judith Hutchison according to a report in The Scotsman.

“There are some of these recordings where it is just a whirring and you cannot hear the music,” Page said. “If you have something like this that appears legitimate then it is just not right.”