ARCHIVED NEWSPMP Question: Do you think it's necessarily to trademark the nickname, alias the artist name? And, if so, how can I do this? Second question: when I want to copyright my songs on the form SR, am I able to put all my songs which I already did on one form, or one per form? And do I have to or should I always copyright new songs, because it would get pretty expensive to copyright new songs all the time. Any tips? That'll be great. Bernie's Response: If you are the first person to use a fictitious name [or mark] in commerce to identify your product or service, it becomes your trademark or service mark. In other words, a trademark or service mark is automatically created when it is first used in commerce and you can prove that you were the first person to use the fictitious name. Registering your "mark" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, DC allows you to claim national rights to the name if your "mark" is being used or advertised across the country. It can also serve as a deterrent against lawsuits. If your "mark" is only being used or advertised in your state, you may consider contacting your state's Secretary of State for registration, which is less costly than filing for federal protection. Before you apply for federal protection of your mark, you should consider researching the name to see if it's available. Researching a name can be performed via the internet by using certain sites like www.bandreg.com, by reviewing written publications like the Billboard International Talent and Touring Directory, or by contacting a professional searching firm like Thomsen & Thomsen that will conduct a comprehensive search, which covers both federal and state registrations. The fee for such searches can cost approximately $300.00 to $500.00. When filing a federal application, you are required to provide a specimen that identifies how the mark is being used in commerce. Once the application is filed, the approval process takes approximately one year. You can visit http://www.uspto.gov/ for further information regarding federal registrations. Even though you can file an application on your own, my advice is that you seek legal advice to guide you through the process. You can copyright more than one composition with the Copyright Office by submitting all of the songs on one CD, and filing one application, which is the basic form SR or PA, along with a Continuation Sheet that is used in conjunction with such forms. The Continuation Sheet allows you to identify additional authors, copyright claimants, and/or titles that cannot fit on the basic form, as long as the additional compositions listed on the Continuation Sheet all have the same authors/claimants. If you are submitting a CD along with the application for registration to the Copyright Office, I suggest that you give each composition a title and list the names separately on the Continuation Sheet. In order to save money on your registrations, you may consider only registering the compositions that you have distributed to the public or to a third party. If the compositions remain solely in your possession and are not being published, copyright infringement is unlikely. For additional information regarding copyright registration, go to http://www.copyright.gov/. PMP producers send all questions to support@pmpworldwide.com (Not to Bernie!) B. Lawrence Watkins & Associates P.C. - http://www.blwapc.com/ Archive Entry - Copyrights & Samples |
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