Band name Issue

  • Thread starter Thread starter Royston
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Royston

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When I was 10 years old I was in a band that I gave a cool name to, we did perform publicly on two occasions and have photographic evidence to prove it. My question is: Do I own the rights to this name? Because I have recently discovered that there is a band currently on the scene that uses the same name that I thought of and used publicly in 1982. The reason why I am anxious about this, is because I would like to use the name again.

Any Comments?
 
Unless there is a proof that picture was taken way back on that date.... The defense could technically say that it's a NEW picture of some kid who looks like you.......

Very hard to argue.... Unless the picture was taken infront of the atomic clock, and the time and date is in the background, I can see no way of proving this......


My suggestion,

Save yourself the time and hassle.....

Pick a new name.
 
I have witnesses to the concert and obviously the clothing clearly shows it was taken in 1982. I really don't wanna give up on this one.
 
There was a metal band in 1990 calle Jagged Edge, yet I see that there is now a hip hop band called Jagged Edge. And how about Nirvana in 1968, surely the original Nirvana have some kind of claim against that.
 
Royston said:
I have witnesses to the concert and obviously the clothing clearly shows it was taken in 1982. I really don't wanna give up on this one.
Click to expand...

The problem is, that the defense will fight that anyone can go out to the thrift store and buy "dated" clothing, and it is still no proof of the time that the photo was taken.....

They will also probably try and discredit your witnessess, buy arguing that they are all people you know and of course they would lie for you........

(Remember these are Lawyers were talking about):)

Im not trying to take the wind out of your sails, but Lawsuits are expensive, and could reach $10,000 by the time your finished, and the chances of winning are slim......

Unless you have an album that your band produced in 1982, with the date, and a copyright on it, very hard to fight.

And remember that you will be against high priced, awesome industry lawyers.....

Royston, I know you want to keep the name, and thats cool, but im just warning you of what you may encounter....

Maybe if there is a shot that includes a hundred of the audience members, all dressed in 1982 clothing, that might help, but still hard..... The damn lawyers will argue every detail.

Joe
 
The Use it or Lose it clause

Band names are not like song lyrics. If memory serves (and I was involved in such a dispute once) you have to show that you are actively profiting from a band name within a period of time to get some kind of injuction against another would be user.

It's like, if you were making taxable income within a certain time frame (say 5 or 7 years ago) you have the right to the name. That is of course if you registered the name first as a trademark.

If you didn't register than anyone can be first to the plate and have that name, still they need to "use it or lose it" too.

I'm not a lawyer or anything, I just had to deal with this stuff once.
 
How "established" is the band that is using your name? Maybe they haven't registered the anywhere yet.

If you never play the same places, you can go on using your name anyway and let them try to sue you. Do they play the same genre as you? There have actually been lots of bands that have the same name. As long as they don't become superstars, you never find out.

Dave
 
You have to be actively using the name as well as actively defending it in order to keep the right to it.

dave @ kathode ray
www.indiebiz.com
 
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