Hey all, I'm looking for some advice here, please...
I have an artist production name that I have been using since 2003. I have been paying for a web domain under the production name since 2005.
I just did a Google search my studio name to see what would come up, and I found this Facebook band page that is using the same name as me. There are only 10 people who "like" it, and everything was just made/added on their page from Nov. 30th 2010.
I'm not really sure what to do here. Do I just ignore it because they are producing music and I am producing 2D artwork? Or do I bring it up with them somehow?
And if so, is there a way I can find who owns the Facebook group, since it's a page where you can't PM them?
On the same note, I found a youtube account created a year ago that states they are a group of artists, with their DA pages linked, and they call themselves ...the same name that I have for my production name.
I'm a little bit more concerned about that one. I haven't exactly legally copyrighted my studio name yet, but I do have bills dating back to 2005 as to when I bought the domain name of it.
Oh, and I also found a fansub group with the same name as well that popped upin April of this year...it kind of bugs me, because it's not a common name at all that I am using, too :(
Of course at the time when I came up with the name, I did a Google search and there weren't any results for it in 2003.
*EDIT*
Okay, so I did a bit more research on the fansub group...it seems their website doesn't have any updates before April of 2010 (as that may just be their style), but I found a forum board for them which dates back to 2005...still, I searched the Internet in and out before taking the domain name of it, and nothing came up then...so I can't help to wonder if they changed their name?
My domain reads like this __studios.com. Their domain reads like this __-fansubs.com, using the same first part...right now I am not going to tell my studio name, just because I have been having issues with harassment as of late by some people.
I have an artist production name that I have been using since 2003. I have been paying for a web domain under the production name since 2005.
I just did a Google search my studio name to see what would come up, and I found this Facebook band page that is using the same name as me. There are only 10 people who "like" it, and everything was just made/added on their page from Nov. 30th 2010.
I'm not really sure what to do here. Do I just ignore it because they are producing music and I am producing 2D artwork? Or do I bring it up with them somehow?
And if so, is there a way I can find who owns the Facebook group, since it's a page where you can't PM them?
On the same note, I found a youtube account created a year ago that states they are a group of artists, with their DA pages linked, and they call themselves ...the same name that I have for my production name.
I'm a little bit more concerned about that one. I haven't exactly legally copyrighted my studio name yet, but I do have bills dating back to 2005 as to when I bought the domain name of it.
Oh, and I also found a fansub group with the same name as well that popped up
Of course at the time when I came up with the name, I did a Google search and there weren't any results for it in 2003.
*EDIT*
Okay, so I did a bit more research on the fansub group...it seems their website doesn't have any updates before April of 2010 (as that may just be their style), but I found a forum board for them which dates back to 2005...still, I searched the Internet in and out before taking the domain name of it, and nothing came up then...so I can't help to wonder if they changed their name?
My domain reads like this __studios.com. Their domain reads like this __-fansubs.com, using the same first part...right now I am not going to tell my studio name, just because I have been having issues with harassment as of late by some people.
- Current Mood:uncomfortable
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Only think that possibly comes to mind as a solution, and it might not even be applicable, is to attempt trademarking.
I gave them the address, changed mine to sacredgroundscomic@gmail.com and made everything a LOT easier for everyone.
There's like, fifty Sacred Grounds across the world, so I'm not worried about trademark or anything, not to mention it's a very generic name.
I'm sacredgroundscomic.com too.
Now if they were claiming to BE you on the other hand, then yes I'd worry. otherwise this sort of thing isn't too big of a deal.
You can try talking to them. They might be amiable to changing their name. They might also tell you where you can stick that request.
You will probably be spending something between $500-$2000 in legal and fees to trademark your name, depending on if (and how much) legal help you get. You can then send a cease & desist order to the band or whoever is using the name and tell them, "Change it or else."
You are exactly right, and that's the reason why I haven't done it yet, thinking the name was rare enough that I would never need to worry about it...but I'm kind of stupid.
For smaller businesses, though, it's usually of no concern unless your business is very similar to the other. "Apple," for example, applies both to the well-known computer group and to a lesser-known (these days) recording studio.
There's very little overlap between your art studio and a band and a fansub studio, and I'm willing to bet that all three are small businesses without the funds necessary to trademark the name. To be honest, it's a little annoying, but unless one starts claiming to be you or something, I wouldn't actually worry much about it.
A trademark is also something that is an indicator as to your 'brand'-- that is, it represent a product or service to your customers (e.g. the Nike 'swoosh' or the Apple logo, or just the word "Disney", etc).
So, you have to decide if you want to go through the trouble and expense of registering and maintaining a trademark, and decide if the other folks using your studio name sell a similar product as you. Otherwise you can contact the other people and see if they want to compromise, but if they don't unfortunately there's nothing you can do.
Best wishes!
I just don't want to have to end up losing my name due to one of the other groups, because I've been in business since 2003, and have over a thousand business cards swimming around.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm
c'mon, we're on tenterhooks here
You need to register a trademark on the name and use it for interstate commerce for it to be formally protected and even then there are limits. So currently if you have not completed the requirements for formal protection, it's not protected and you can do nothing.
Even if you had these guys are not in direct competition with you and their products are not the same as your own so no judge would rule in your favour since there is no possible confusion there.
It's like how Easy Jet have their name trademarked, however they could not shut down Easy Car (a care hire company local to a major airport) because both sold different products and thus were ruled to be clearly distinct businesses and no brand confusion was possible.