IMMORTAL members Harald “Demonaz” Nævdal and Reidar “Horgh” Horghagen are fighting over the rights to the band’s name.
A new conflict has arisen between two members, with Demonaz registering IMMORTAL with the Norwegian Patent Office as his exclusive trademark in July 2019,” according to documents uncovered by Norway’s VG. The registration was approved, and he was therefore given the exclusive right to use the band name commercially. However, Horgh chose to appeal the registration, and the matter was ruled in his favor, meaning that Demonaz no longer has the exclusive right to the IMMORTAL name.
“It could never have occurred to me to register the trademark by myself, as Nævdal has done here, but I have found myself having to fight to keep the rights I have earned through a long career in this band,” Horgh told VG. “It is, and after all has been for many years, a large part of my livelihood.”
Demonaz disagreed with the decision, pointing out that he is “the band’s only remaining original member. I am also the only one who has been on all of the band’s releases,” he said.
But The Norwegian Patent Office ruled that the rights to the IMMORTAL name belong to the band as a whole, and not to the individual members.
“We have jointly as a band built up the trademark IMMORTAL, and it is therefore right that the trademark should be a joint ownership,” Horgh said.
He also said that he is hopeful IMMORTAL could play live again.
“It has been my goal all the way, and I know that this is something IMMORTAL fans want and have been waiting for a long time. I hope in the long run that we can manage to put these disagreements behind us, and again look ahead as a band.”
Earlier this year, former IMMORTAL frontman Olve “Abbath” Eikemo had said he is “open” to a reunion with his former bandmates.
Abbath and his childhood friend Harald “Demonaz” Nævdal started IMMORTAL in 1990. Six years ago, Abbath and the rest of the group went through a bitter breakup.
