People close to the airline said they believed the move was related to a separate brand license dispute between the airline and Sir Stelios, whose private EasyGroup owns the "Easy" brand and licenses it to EasyJet. The dispute was settled out of court in October 2010, whereby a previous annual payment of £1 by EasyJet to use the "Easy" name was turned into a minimum £4 million per year in a 50-year agreement.