Trademarking

[DreamwaveMusic]

Is there any practical reason to trademark a band name? I cant imagine so, but please advise otherwise. Obviously bands have been successful without trademarking a name, such as a common word like "Yes." Any thoughts?

[Bellringer]

I remember a case where a band from IN or IL had a trademark or copyrite on the name Aftermath. Dr. Dre wanted to use the name for his new label and offered them some pretty big $$ for an unsigned band. Of course they stood their ground (who knows what they were thinking?! Indie cred.?) Eventually Dre won the use of the name because the judge said no one would confuse a rap related label with a metal band. Next time take the money!

[johnS]

Originally Posted by Bellringer

Eventually Dre won the use of the name because the judge said no one would confuse a rap related label with a metal band. Next time take the money!

What a hip judge to realize that rap and metal would never become intermingled. Nope, never ever.

[mikegee]

there is a really good reason to trademark a name; if your band makes it big, and you havent trademarked the name of the band, any other band with the same name will crawl out of their obscurity, and sue for name infringement, and then you'd either have to pay them off, or else alter the name of your band. i can think of a few bands that this happened to, charlatans uk being one of the bands...

[McLean]

Trademarking a name can involve a few different things. First the use of the name. Who can use the name an how. Think of merchandising. If some guy is makeing tons of t-shirts with your band name on it, he can sell them all over the place and not pay you a dime. Now, you could look at this situation as free advertising. However, if your band made all those same shirts that everyone is obviously buying, you would still have all of the same advertising, but you would also have a pocket full of money to go with it. It can as involve how that name is represented. If some guy uses the name of your band in a negative way, you can not do anything about it. This sort of goes the line of defimation of character. Without any trademark/copyright, you do not exist as that character, at least legally. Basically with a trademark, you are protected legally and no one can do stuff with or do stuff to that name without your permission.