Not So Gleeful

Mark Tughan, Comic Enterprises (The Glee Clubs) writes:


"Twentieth Century Fox Entertainment chose to appropriate the name “Glee” for its popular television series, and bring it to the UK in the form of touring live shows and merchandise in addition to the TV show itself. This has damaged and continues to damage the operation and reputation of my company’s comedy and live music venues – The Glee Clubs – chiefly because of the confusion it sows in the minds of the public.

"I therefore feel I have no choice other than to take action against Fox to protect the trademarked name of my four venues (in Birmingham, Cardiff, Oxford and Nottingham). “The Glee Club” trademark was registered to my company on 20 April, 2001 and renewed on 26 June, 2009 – long before Fox first registered or used the name “Glee”. The process of starting to protect our name started in 1994 when we opened our first venue.

"There is significant and mounting evidence that there is confusion in the minds of the public; that we are somehow associated with or connected to the TV show and that we might provide an entertainment experience of that nature. This appears to be particularly acute with our newer clubs which opened in 2010, at the same time as the TV show became hugely popular. The entertainment we provide is nothing like the TV show.
Sadly the impact of the “Glee” confusion has also forced me to put on hold plans to open new Glee Clubs next year.

"I have handed the whole sorry business over to my legal counsel and we are hoping the matter can be settled amicably in respect of compensation and the safeguarding of the “Glee” name in the UK."


About Mark Tughan


Mark started Comic Enterprises Ltd. from scratch in 1994 in order to pursue a labour of love – to open the first purpose-built comedy club outside London. The Glee Club in Birmingham exceeded all expectations and by 1999 Mark had bought out his original backers. Since then three more Glee Clubs have followed, and the clubs have diversified very successfully into live music.

Before the clubs entered his life, Mark graduated from Nottingham University and between 1990 and 1993 worked in mergers and acquisitions analyst for Brown, Shipley & Co, and Hambro Magan.

It was quite a leap from there to the entertainment scene, but Mark used his business-sense and he diversified into allied fields early on. He took up a franchised dance class (Ceroc), which he rolled out across the West Midlands, before selling these to concentrate on opening the Cardiff Glee Club in 2001. Next came a ticketing/online booking business, Comedy Booking Ltd., based on his own technology.

Besides starting businesses, Mark is also a keen business backer, having built up a series of equity investments ranging in size from £25,000 to £250,000. Examples are Sprue Aegis plc, Radio Tactics, Global Email, Atlantic Foods, Tanfield Food Co, Gymbox, Oxis Energy and Connection Capital.

About The Glee Clubs


The original Glee Club opened in Birmingham in 1994, followed by Cardiff in 2001. Birmingham was refurbished and expanded to a 3-bar, 2-auditorium venue with a capacity of 750 in 2001. Oxford opened in April 2010 and Nottingham in September 2010. Turnover for the popular mid-sized comedy and music venues is currently around £4-million.

The name and reputation of The Glee Clubs is widely known and they are considered to be the leading brand of mid-sized combined comedy and music venues. They’ve played host to major comedians such as Michael McIntyre, Lee Evans, Peter Kay and Jimmy Carr. Birmingham and Cardiff have been voted “Best Venue” (by the public) in the Chortle Comedy Awards on numerous occasions. A milestone for the Cardiff Glee was the recording of Rhod Gilbert’s BBC Radio Show in 2008, following on from the hosting of ITV Wales’ stand-up show in 2007. The media regularly feature Glee Clubs in their columns – The Guardian listed them among their top ten comedy venues in 2009.

On the comedy front The Glee Clubs feature regular four-act line-ups of the finest live acts from the UK and international circuit. In addition, the clubs are popular destinations for solo touring comics. A variety of music genres also enrich the ongoing programmes, the clubs’ distinctly intimate environment ensuring a unique experience for artists (who have included Adele, Duffy, Feist and Mumford and Sons), and audience alike.
Details of current productions at The Glee Clubs can be found on the website at www.glee.co.uk.