When Areas of Law Cross
There is an interesting lawsuit recently filed by Ozzy Osbourne against former fellow band member Tony Iommi over the Black Sabbath band name.
BLACK SABBATH is a registered trademark number 2399391. Iommi registered it back in 2000.
There are a couple issues in this situation that do not seem to be covered in any article. How long has Ozbourne not been using the name (which is briefly touched upon elsewhere)? Was there any agreement (doubtful) when band members broke up? And, what do state laws have to say about bands?
Yes, state laws. There are many states who are protecting band names as long as there is at least one member of the original group in the current group.
In this situation, I do have to wonder about Osbourne's claim since he has not been using the name of Black Sabbath himself for many years and now suddenly he wants to reclaim the rights to the mark. Federal law should prevail over state law, but that issue is never clear-cut.
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The web seminars have been popular, so I will continue to do them.
Copyright and Trademark Law for Small Businesses
Join us for a Webinar on June 5
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/346743610
This will be a webinar on copyright and trademark law for small businesses. Learn what a trademark is. Learn what a copyright is. This is going to be a primer so that you're familiar with the terms and with the differences between these areas of intellectual property. Don't hesitate to protect your trademarks and copyrights!
Title: Copyright and Trademark Law for Small Businesses
Date: Friday, June 5, 2009
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
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BLACK SABBATH is a registered trademark number 2399391. Iommi registered it back in 2000.
There are a couple issues in this situation that do not seem to be covered in any article. How long has Ozbourne not been using the name (which is briefly touched upon elsewhere)? Was there any agreement (doubtful) when band members broke up? And, what do state laws have to say about bands?
Yes, state laws. There are many states who are protecting band names as long as there is at least one member of the original group in the current group.
In this situation, I do have to wonder about Osbourne's claim since he has not been using the name of Black Sabbath himself for many years and now suddenly he wants to reclaim the rights to the mark. Federal law should prevail over state law, but that issue is never clear-cut.
****
The web seminars have been popular, so I will continue to do them.
Copyright and Trademark Law for Small Businesses
Join us for a Webinar on June 5
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/346743610
This will be a webinar on copyright and trademark law for small businesses. Learn what a trademark is. Learn what a copyright is. This is going to be a primer so that you're familiar with the terms and with the differences between these areas of intellectual property. Don't hesitate to protect your trademarks and copyrights!
Title: Copyright and Trademark Law for Small Businesses
Date: Friday, June 5, 2009
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/346743610
Labels: band names, black sabbath, ozzy osbourne, trademark law
posted by Anthony Verna at 7:19 PM
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