Rome, the Luxembourg neofolk and martial industrial band led by Jerome Reuter, alleges that he has been ordered to cease using the name Rome by Sublime With Rome, the Sublime offshoot fronted by Rome Ramirez who formed in 2009 (four years after Rome formed). He says that his music was removed from streaming as a result of the cease and desist, but that he "managed to cancel the opposite side's European trademark of the name 'Rome'" and had his music reinstated to digital platforms in Europe. Select releases still remain off streaming in the US.

Jerome also adds that he never attempted to trademark the name "Rome," as he "[believes] in the sanctity of the idea that is ROME, without needing the approval of any domestic or foreign office," and he added, "Furthermore, the name happens to be derived from my first name." His lengthy statement reads:

Dear legionnaires,
Dear friends and supporters,

Many of you have been wondering for months why some of our works have completely disappeared from online platforms such as Apple music, Spotify, etc. The reason for this is very simple: ROME is under attack. For strategic reasons, we have not gone public with this yet. Only select legionnaires -to whom we remain extremely grateful for their outstanding support during the first secretive funding campaign – have known about us facing such difficulties in an already strenuous time. Now, however, the time has come for us to tell you all that is happening and who is at the root of this struggle we find ourselves in.

Earlier this year, I received an email from an US attorney, ordering me to cease using the name ROME immediately, as his clients – the band “Sublime with Rome” and Mr “Rome” Ramirez – have trademarked the word/name “Rome”.

For clarification; I had never attempted to trademark “Rome”, as I believe in the sanctity of the idea that is ROME, without needing the approval of any domestic or foreign office. Rome is obviously and most notably the name of a city, but also an empire and stands for an important root of our common European heritage. Trademarking such a name or word is something both impossible and ridiculous. Furthermore, the name happens to be derived from my first name, and thus, I believed there was no need to trademark it – which is a very costly thing in itself anyway, especially for an outfit operating in countless legal territories around the globe. Whatever the little battles and skirmishes of this disgusting modern world, I never wanted any part in them, but I was dragged into this dreadful legal battle by Mr Ramirez nonetheless and I have to defend myself against this attack whether I wish to or not.

As I did not comply with the US attorney’s demand to cease all activities as “Rome”, Mr. Ramirez has had some of my music (i.e. the most successful and recent releases) banned from online platforms for “trademark infringement”, to show his resolve to push a fellow musician into a corner during the second year of a pandemic. Not a very punk rock thing to do, if you ask me. We have no idea what other missiles are still headed our way as I write this. I have had to assemble legal teams in both the U.S and E.U to fight this. And it has come at a tremendous financial cost, as you can imagine. ROME's war chest – given the many cancelations and restrictions of these last two years – has been very slim to begin with, so I really need your help.

Forgive me for keeping most of you in the dark regarding this, as I was advised by my legal council to not go public before we have at least come up with a coherent legal strategy to counter these attacks. Some among you have already supported me over the last weeks and months in a very direct way, and I want to thank you again for that from all my heart. Anyone else who feels inclined to support me, please buy some of the special items that we have made available via fantotal (see links below). I want to thank Sams Tiller and the team at fantotal.de for their tremendous support (they have waived their fee on all these items to help me continue this fight) and, as always, I am extremely grateful to Alex Storm of Trisol Music Group who has had my back since the early days of ROME and has been a true friend in need.

With the help of my European legal team (yes, that is exactly why some amongst you have seen me in Berlin more often than usual during these last few months), I have managed to cancel the opposite side’s European trademark of the name “Rome”. This is a partial victory in an a series of battles we are fighting to win this war that was brought to our doorstep. This is also the reason why we were able to reinstate all our music online in the EU.

I have never tried to stop Mr Ramirez from using his name, even though he most obviously started using it after me. But I do not believe in going after a fellow musician, especially when times are hard for everyone to begin with. I am deeply saddened that I need to devote what time, money and energy I have to this fight, when I should be working on more important matters.

I will do my utmost to prevail and I am literally spending my last penny on this, as ROME is my life's work and I will fight them with all I have.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.

ROME SHALL NOT FALL!
UROPIA O MORTE!
Godspeed,
JR

Stay tuned for any further updates to this story.