Your commercial news round-up: Oasis, Ikea, trade wars, travel chaos

Anna O’Boyle is acting senior content and engagement coordinator at LawCareers.Net

Reading time: five minutes

The band Oasis has raised objections to the auction of a vast archive of recordings, prompting questions of ownership and IP rights. Elsewhere, Ikea has secured permission to pursue legal action against a far-right political party over its use of the retailer’s branding, highlighting the tension between freedom of expression and trademark rights. Following the theft of two Renoir paintings, local officials have renewed calls for greater investment in cultural institutions. Meanwhile, trade tensions continue to escalate between the US and Canada, and disruption persists across UK airports.

Read on for LawCareers.Net’s pick of this week’s top commercial stories.

• Rock band Oasis has expressed concerns over the upcoming auction of an archive of previously unheard recordings. While acknowledging the band’s objections, auction house Littleton Auctions has confirmed the sale will proceed, with Managing Director Ben Homer claiming: “We're handling everything with full transparency and proper legal process.” The archive, collected by former Oasis sound engineer Huw Richards, has been described as “the only master archive of its kind in existence” and includes recordings of 63 live shows, soundchecks and more than 100 hours of rehearsals and personal conversations. However, as Oasis retain the IP rights, the archive cannot be commercially exploited without the band’s cooperation, preventing a buyer from releasing the recordings. The auction will take place on 3 October, with the collection expected to reach up to £1.6 million.


• Ikea has won the right to pursue legal action against Belgian far-right party Vlaams Belang after the EU’s highest court ruled that the retailer could oppose the use of its trademarks and distinctive graphics in the party’s anti-immigration campaign. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found that Vlaams Belang’s use of Ikea branding to promote its immigration policies could “cause significant detriment to the repute” of the company. Although Vlaams Belang claimed that freedom of expression should override Ikea’s trademark rights, the court rejected the argument. Pauline Piernez, trademark and design associate at intellectual property law firm Marks & Clerk, said: “While the CJEU rightly confirms that political parody is not prohibited, it also makes clear that freedom of expression is not a blank cheque to appropriate the identity of a famous brand simply to amplify a message.” Although the CJEU has confirmed legal action can be pursued, a final decision on the dispute must be determined through further legal proceedings.


• Two paintings by French impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir were stolen from the Renoir Museum in the south of France early on Tuesday morning. The suspects entered the museum grounds by cutting through a fence before removing four paintings from their frames. Two of the stolen works, Portrait of Madame Pichon (1895) and Coco Lisant (1905), were abandoned in the museum gardens and later recovered. The remaining missing paintings, Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (1910) and Jeune fille au puits (1886), are both valued at €9 million (£7.7 million). The theft follows several recent art heists across Europe, renewing concerns about museum security. Local mayor Bryan Masson urged the French government to provide more financial support to protect local areas and cultural institutions from “increasingly organised and determined criminals”.


• In an escalation of its trade dispute with Canada, the US has announced a ban on most Canadian alcoholic beverages. The measures take effect on 29 September and were announced shortly after Canada’s retaliatory tariffs were imposed on $20 billion (£17.1 billion) of US goods. The latest tit-for-tat developments follow the collapse of trade talks between the two countries, during which US President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming ‌Lake Ontario as Lake America. Trump has also warned that Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier could lose access to the US market unless it relocates production to the United States, while a proposed increase in tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles remains under consideration. Although Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has claimed the country could “pivot and prosper” despite the dispute, signalling the likelihood of a further shift away from the US, concerns remain that escalating tariffs could increase inflation and slow economic growth in both countries.


• Following Tuesday’s chaos, which saw 1,750 flights cancelled after a technical fault at NATS, the UK’s air traffic control provider, thousands of passengers are continuing to face disruptions. While NATS said operations are now “stable”, delays are expected to continue for several days as airlines reposition aircraft and crews. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander ruled out a cyberattack, with Downing Street confirming that NATS, which is 49% owned by the government, must report back within a week outlining what went wrong. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched an independent review into the incident, while Wizz Air has argued that NATS is “not fit for purpose” and requires a complete overhaul. The CAA said passengers are unlikely to be entitled to compensation because the disruption will likely be considered an “extraordinary circumstance”, although airlines must still provide support and assistance. Airlines UK said the incident affected more than 330,000 passengers and warned that a similar failure “cannot happen again”. As of 10 September 2026, disruption is ongoing.

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