Lawyers, Guns and Money: lawyers

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Copyrighting Your Band Logo

There is a lot of time, effort and usually money that goes into creating a logo that accurately represents your band. As such, it's important to take the proper steps to protect your art so you have some recourse if infringement occurs.

For the most part, band logos can be considered an original and creative form of art - assuming the logo is more than just the name of the band without an artistic element. As such, they can be protected under Copyright Law as a Visual/Artistic work.

Just to ensure this is clear, the artwork for the logo can be protected under copyright law, but not the name of the band itself. This is because copyright law does not protect names, slogans, or catch-phrases. If you were looking to protect against other bands using your actual name vs. the artwork, this would fall under Trade-Mark Law.

In order to protect your band logo under copyright law, all you have to do is put your logo in a tangible form (on paper, on CD, on a hard drive, on the back of a candy wrapper, etc.). Once it's in this fixed form, the creator owns the exclusive rights to produce or reproduce the art. Although the designer/artist automatically own the copyright to the logo artwork the moment it is put in a fixed form, it's best to have taken further steps to prove to the courts that the work was originally yours should someone (perhaps another band) steal your logo or a big portion of it.

In general, the best option for added protection is to firstly seek the advice of an entertainment lawyer who should know the inner workings of the system and the best option for your band, direct you to a reputable copyright registry. For ultimate protection, one should register their logo as soon as it has been completed, before showing others. Your manager should have no qualms for hitting the credit card for this.

There are a number of options for copyright registries. You could register through the Government, through associations, or through online registries. When doing your research, ensure you know all the costs involved, whether there are membership or renewal fees, and whether they provide you with a time-stamped registration certificate. Higher costs don't necessarily mean 'tighter' copyright.

Some say (usually entertainment lawyers) that the "Poor Man's Copyright Method" (i.e. sending yourself your work through mail) is unlikely to hold in a court of law should someone infringe on your logo design. I beg to differ. I've been through the court system twice using this method and was successful on both occasions.

Regardless of which method you choose to protect your band's logo, remember to register it before you show it to third parties. Please bare in mind that the above-mentioned laws vary from country to country and state to state.

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Monday, May 17, 2010

I Am The Innocent Bystander

As unfortunate as it is, unless you're strumming away in your bedroom or to some friends at a barbeque music is,as mentioned in another blog entry, a business.

When the term 'business' is mentioned to most independent musicians the inevitable responses are either one of apathy or one of panic. Having worked as a professional musician since 1983, represented myself in court with and without a lawyer on copyright matters I can safely say that responses of apathy or panic are not appropriate.

This brief introductory entry blog entry shall cover the most basic, easiest and legally airtight globally accepted way of copyrighting both recorded material and songwriting credits.

If you have written a song that you wish to record or wish your band record, print out the song title, lyrics, and chords to the song. Include at the bottom the days date, your own name (printed) with your signature and date of of birth. If the song has been co-written it is imperative that the co-writer is present when this occurs.

The next step is to take your lyric sheet as outlined above (please ensure that any co-writer is present) to your Post Office. Explain to the Postmaster your purpose and that it is imperative that the postmark is clearly visible. Place the document into the envelope. On sealing the envelope, place your signature over the sealed area and place clear tape over this area. By doing this, any attempted tampering will be clearly evident.

In the case of solo or band recordings, follow the above steps.....including your clearly marked audio format. Ensure all people involved in this process have signed the relevant document as outlined above and are present at the Post Office. Ensure their signatures are also present on the sealing area of the envelope. Any member who 'can't be bothered' accompanying you to the Post Office fully negates his/her content within the envelope and thus any possible royalties that may ensue. (It may be worth pointing them to this entry).

Once all of the aforementioned material is signed and sealed, guess what happens next? Yup! It has to be delivered. This can be a tricky one. In my case I'm fortunate in that I have a lawyer & Justice Of The Peace who are personal friends, otherwise it would cost....and I'm attempting to avoid you spending money. At this point I suggest a trusted friend who is not in the music industry and ideally geographically distant.

The intent of this introductory post is to hopefully spurn my fellow independent musicians into getting their existing catalogue of material fully and legally copyrighted.

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