A German Company Trademarked ‘Blegh’ + Now Other Metal Brands Are Retaliating

A German company has done the least metal thing ever and trademarked our beloved “blegh,” and now other metal brands are retaliating in response to it.

“Blegh” is a signature metal sound, most commonly used by metalcore vocalists. Apparently, a German company called Blegh.de trademarked the term in late 2023 and is producing merch with it, thus resulting in legal issues for other brands that have been creating “blegh” merch for years.

One shop in particular called Death Sentence, which is based in the U.K., shared a post on Facebook earlier this month stating that their “blegh” items were removed from their Etsy shop due to the trademark.

“I can prove I was using it before they claimed it as their own, as can dozens of other people/brands/bands out there,” the shop wrote in the post.

Blegh.de has turned comments off on their Instagram posts, but screenshots have surfaced online of Architects‘ Sam Carter responding to the trademark news with the comment, “The blegh is for the people!”

Other brands have expressed outrage online as well, noting that they have been selling their own “blegh” merch since before Blegh.de existed. An American company called Forbidden Alchemy directly responded to the situation by trademarking “blegh” in the U.S., and wrote their own post about the decision to do so.

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“We proactively secured the trademark in the U.S. because we anticipated this would happen. Our main reason for obtaining the trademark in the U.S. was to ensure that no one from outside the metalcore circle could take control of it and prevent bands or small businesses that rely on this word to make a living from using it,” they wrote.

“We will never pursue legal action against anyone using it for merch, music, or promotions. Our goal is to support small businesses and bands that rely on the power of ‘BLEGH’ in their art. This word belongs to the community, and we’re here to ensure it stays that way.”

The situation has aggravated so many that Death Sentence launched a GoFundMe page named after Carter’s comment. The page notes both companies that have trademarked the term, and aims to raise money for the company to seek legal advice on how to move forward.

“Then hopefully challenge the legality of both these trademarks and get them redacted and bring back BLEGH for the people,” the description reads. “Secondly, funds willing, and if necessary, I propose a counter trademark of the word BLEGH that anyone can use, other than the two companies who filed the trademarks in the first place.”

In a more recent Facebook post, Death Sentence acknowledged that Forbidden Alchemy trademarked the term “for the right reasons,” so it appears they don’t hold the decision against them.

Death Sentence is still selling “blegh” merch despite the legal risk, one of which reads “BLEGH for the people.”

It’s a “blegh” war.