Trademarks Vs. Copyright

I have seen some big tgps "Register" there name.

Trademarks are associated with your business and only enable you to sue for damages if someone abuses your name, or if they take one that's too similar to yours (I believe any names must be 33% different or you can sue). Copyrighting generally refers to works of art or things like scripts, books, etc, they aren't even close to the same thing.

your son let you name his band?

oh man, what has music turned to?

I think the "Electric Prunes" is a catchy name!!

Thanks for the information. Actually my son named his band I am just researching to get the name protected

That's cool.. I'm not sure if trademarks are applicable to that kind of thing though are they? I could be wrong I've never thought about that application before

well by definition you cant 'copyright' a name, but you can 'trademark' it.

you copyright a body of work, such as literature or an albums,. or its lyrics.

but the band name becomes a trademark which becomes property and almost its own entity, and below THAT is what you ?, and all works released BY that entity.
theres a huge different between trademarks and copyrights.

i have sat with trademark lawyers (entertainment lawyers) funny guys, nothing but circles and 75 bucks an hour hahah

this is some usefull stuff... I never could figure out the differnece too!

Keep in mind that when you submit your trademark application you will also need to submit creatives for the corresponding name. A trademark not only covers the text aspect but also the look of the identity. Make sure you get this 100% when you submit or you will have a prick of a time if you wish to change this in the future.

Fletch is 100% correct...So Trademark the band's name

Jasmine, what LadyMischief and Fletch XXX have written is absolutely right.
But the 'field' of 'Trademarks' and 'Copyrights' is far more complicated and 'money-consuming' to say anything 'in brief'.
The costs for the registration of a trademark are the smallest part, the costs for 'maintaining' and possible lawsuits, costs for lawyers can drive a private citizen or a small comp. into bankruptcy.
And all individual and artifical work is always protected by 'personal rights', e.g. 'copyrights'

Is it really worth the time and effort to trademark a band name, won't they do well based on their music and playing. What does the name have to do with anything, names come and go talent is and drive is what they need not lawyers.

Thank you all for the wealth of information posted here. I do appreciate everyone's input on this subject matter. I have been muddling through all the government jargon which seem to be written in another language
I was able to decipher some of the lingo , seems to be a very complicated process that I will need to look into in depth to make sure everything the boys band has done will be safe.

Obtaining a trademark for the bands name is easy. What is hard is enforcing it. Here is an example:

Arrowhead water is a start up in the water industry. They start in California. Then another Arrowhead water starts up in New York the next day. They both register their names as a trademark. California first. 10 years later New York is nationwide and Ca decides to go nationwide too but notices NY already is and decides to enforce its trademark. The judge may decide that since NY Arrowhead is sononimus as the Arrowhead water company and is already a house hold name that CA cannot enforce the trademark in markets it is not already in. But had CA decided to enforce it 5 years ago when NY was only in a few other states, CA could have stopped NY from moving all the way accross the US to CA, thus retaining some unused market.

There are more than one Burger King in the US. In fact, there are hundreds. And they all fight for who came first (the national chain came somewhere in the middle). Since the national chain is sononimusly known as Burger King, they get to keep their market but may have to leave a certain city or portion there of alone when encroaching on a previously created Burger Kings market area.

A band is no different than any other company. Take for example Metallica (or your whatever band you want). They become famous and some other band decides to name their band Metallica. Consumers will be confused in the music store on which CD the band that they really want to buy. The second Metallica is benefiting from all the hard work and fame achieved from the first Metallica.

Bands get incorporated, have share holder meetings and everything else. Metallica is this way, KISS is this way and most other bands (especailly the money making ones) are this way. It's a business, just like the any other entertainment business (like porn).

Hey Thank you for your knowledge and expertise. The insight you have given me in regards to the Trademark has helped a great deal.

You guys are great !!!