The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that, ahead of Metallica’s concert in St. Louis next week, the company that prints its tour merchandise is hoping a judge will allow authorities to seek and destroy bootleg items. 

Merch Traffic, a company that prints official T-shirts and other products for major artists including Harry Styles, Bruce Springsteen, Outkast, the Wu-Tang Clan and Thomas Rhett, filed suit Thursday in St. Louis federal court alleging trademark infringement from various John and Jane Does seeking to sell merch with a counterfeit Metallica label.

The company has filed similar litigation in other states, including New York, Texas and New Jersey, in an attempt to stop bootleggers in their tracks.

“The infringing merchandise is of the same general appearance as plaintiff’s merchandise and is likely to cause confusion among prospective purchasers,” the suit says. “Further, the infringing merchandise sold and to be sold by defendants is generally of inferior quality.”

Read the complete report here.

Metallica will release the new coffee table book, Messengers: The Guitars Of James Hetfield, on November 23 via Permuted Press.

Hetfield will sign copies of the book on Saturday, November 4 at 2:00 PM CT at Left Bank Books in St. Louis, Missouri.

A statement from the band reads: "Will you be in town for #M72StLouis? Get your hands on a copy of 'Messengers: The Guitars Of James Hetfield' more than two weeks before its release AND get it autographed by James himself! All fans attending must have a ticket to enter the event, which includes a copy of the book."

Description: James shares his personal collection of treasured guitars and reveals the story and significance of each within his life and career.

Accompanied by lush, museum-quality portraits by acclaimed photographer Scott Williamson, James’ collection is displayed and described over a stunning 400 pages.

This meticulously-crafted coffee table book is available in standard hardcover along with two numbered, limited edition releases: Signed Slipcase Edition and Deluxe Box Edition.

Pre-order here.