U.K. based Ghost Vodka shared in a Facebook post, "Recently we were rather bemused to receive legal correspondence on behalf of the Swedish band Ghost and their lead singer, Tobias Fitta Forge, informing us of action they wish to take against us for.....um....making vodka. As if 2020 wasn’t strange enough already." The would add in a following post, "No, we have never used the band’s image to promote our product. There is no ‘deleted post’. Yes, they are suing us solely based upon our name Ghost Vodka and the apparent confusion between their gin and our vodka."
Ann-Charlotte Söderlund Björk, Ghost's legal counsel on the matter, issued a statement to Loudwire saying, "Svensk Drama Pop (SDP) holds an exclusive trademark registration throughout the European Union for the figurative sign ‘Ghost.’ Those rights are licensed to Global Merchandising Services Ltd, in whose interest these proceedings are brought. This case has been on-going for months now, and numerous attempts have been made throughout that period of time to reach an amicable settlement. This case is not about 'gin vs. vodka,' it’s about trademark rights that grant ownership for any and all alcoholic beverages - gin, whiskey, wine, beer, ale, vodka, etc. For any other EU-based entity to use the word ‘Ghost' as part of its alcoholic beverage brand name would be in violation of SDP’s exclusive rights. SDP is entitled to defend these rights as any other business would when their trademark rights have been infringed. That is standard procedure.
The band Ghost is all about creator and vocalist Tobias Forge. All the ideas, storylines, music, and lyrics come from his brilliant mind.
Tobias has morphed into different characters over the years to keep up with his timeline of audio and visual storytelling. Currently he is front and center as Papa Emeritus IV. Since 2018, Forge has been producing a web series that includes a character called “Sister Imperator,” It’s been awhile since we’ve seen a brand new episode. The most recent one is from September of 2021 and is the ninth episode in the series.
In the video entitled “Tomb It May Concern” we see Sister Imperator and ‘current’ vocalist Papa Emeritus IV engaged in a ‘Doom’ (a spoof on ‘Zoom’) video conference call discussing getting things in order for “everything coming up” in the (presumably near) future. Watch it below.
Rockyn Robyn Lane is WRAT’s Music Director & Assistant Program Director. She also has worked as the on air goddess 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM, Monday Through Friday since 1996! Robyn loves to write articles and blogs mostly about food with an emphasis on local eateries. She says she loves shining the spotlight on local businesses, giving them the love they deserve. Not surprisingly, Robyn also loves to cook and bake herself. He recipes can be found on WRAT’s various social media pages. She also hosted a short series called “Rocker In The Kitchen” where she cooks with various rock artists.