How to trademark musician name [No Fluff]

Last updated : Sept 5, 2022

Are singers names copyrighted?

Nope! A name (brand name, band name) cannot be protected by copyright. Copyright is only one form of intellectual property (IP). There are other forms, like trademarks, patents and trade secrets.

How do I protect my band name?

Visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office online to do a trademark search. You need to make sure no one has already trademarked your band name before you can trademark the name yourself. Click on "Search Marks," "Word and/or Design Marks" and enter your band's name.

How much is it to trademark a artist name?

Basic Trademark Registration Costs The basic cost to register a trademark with the USPTO is $275 per international class.

How much does it cost to copyright an artist name?

The basic cost to trademark a business name ranges from $225 to $600 per trademark class. This is the cost to submit your trademark application to the USPTO. The easiest and least expensive way to register your trademark is online, through the USPTO's Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).

Should I trademark my artist name?

Trademarking an artist or stage name is an important legal protection for artists in a variety of fields. Whether you are an actor, singer, musician, painter, sculptor, writer, or another type of artist, a trademark can help protect your name – and your work – from misuse and infringement.

Does a music artist need an LLC?

Should a musician form an LLC? In most cases, the answer is yes; musicians can benefit greatly by forming an LLC. With an LLC, a musician can receive limited liability protections and will also be able to more easily resolve disputes with band members.

Should you trademark a band name?

Trademark law may not be very “Rock and Roll”, but it sure is important these days. When it comes to rock and roll bands, trademarking the band name is an essential part of legal protection.

How long does a trademark last?

A federal trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, with 10-year renewal terms. Between the fifth and sixth year after the registration date, the registrant must file an affidavit to state that the mark is still in use.

What if another artist has the same name?

Technologically, artist names are totally independent from earnings tracking. So you're all good and have nothing to worry about.

How do I create my own artist name?

1. Add an initial.
2. Use a different part of your name.
3. Play with words and translations.
4. Remove some syllables.
5. Think about what style of work you are creating and who your audience is.

Can two music artists have the same name?

Two (or more) bands with the same name. But let's face it: with millions of bands online, there's actually a decent chance another active group has exactly the same name as you. And the likelihood two bands with the same name increases if you are managing or working with several artists.

How do I copyright a name for free?

You can not register a trademark for free. However, you can establish something known as a "common law trademark" for free, simply by opening for business. The benefit of relying on common law trademark rights is that it's free, and you don't need to do any specific work filling out forms, etc.

How do I find out if an artist name is taken?

To search the USPTO's trademark database, go to TESS and choose a search option. If you are searching for a name, you can use the trademark name search. If you are searching a design mark, such as a logo, you will first need to look up your design code using the USPTO's Design Search Code Manual.

Do musicians trademark their names?

The name of a performing artist or the name of a band may be registered as a trademark, but not the name of a single song or a single album. The proposed trademark must be used on a minimum of two creative works to be considered a series.

Do I need to register artist name?

Firstly it's important to note that trademarking your band or artist name is by no means compulsory. Unlike music copyright, which automatically assigns rights to the creator or owner of a piece of original work, trademarking doesn't come about automatically. Instead – it's something that you must register to do.

What trademark class is an artist?

It is important to choose the correct class of goods and services and to choose the correct subcategory. Both songwriters and performing artists will want to choose Class 41, but the subcategories will be different. Picking the wrong subcategory can lead to costly delays at the Trademark Office or even a denial.

What type of business should a musician have?

For a majority of rising artists, a limited liability company (or LLC) will make the most sense, as opposed to a partnership or corporation. (LLCs offer legal protection partnerships don't.

Should an artist register as a business?

The Answer, According to the IRS The short answer is “yes,” you do need a business license to legally sell your work as an artist.

How do musicians file taxes?

For your self-employed (gig) income, you can file an IRS form called a Schedule C–“Profit or Loss from Business” form, with your annual taxes to deduct the related expenses from your gig income and reduce the tax you owe. You'll also need to file Schedule SE–“Self-Employment Tax”.

How do I get my name copyrighted?

Registering a trademark for a company name is pretty straightforward. Many businesses can file an application online in less than 90 minutes, without a lawyer's help. The simplest way to register is on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site, www.uspto.gov.

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Write a comment

hello hi yes i i formed a new band uh and i'd like a slot on that new festival that's fine amazing brilliant yes the band name yeah yes it's metallica nice try mate that's not gonna work why not so you spend years releasing music and building your name only to get an email and find out the name that you've been using wasn't quite as yours as you once thought that is unless you've trademarked it hang on i can smell some full-on geekery it's time to talk trademark law so what is a trademark a trademark is a way of legally claiming your name and your logo so they are legally yours and no one else can use them to misappropriate your music now just because you got there first and you have the socials and you have the domain name that doesn't mean that they are legally yours whilst you are still using them this is about ownership and that's where the trademark comes in now this means you can trademark the name if you're an artist or a band but also you can trademark your logo so if you've got an amazing logo or an amazing band name no one else can use it let's say your rage against the machine or the grateful dead or cold play nobody else can legally claim that name and let's face it that's not the real reason why no one's claiming the name coldplay in 1998 one of the beach boys mike love acquired seoul licensing rights to the name the beach boys now even though other members of the beach boys were still alive they didn't seem eye to eye al jardine one of the other beach boys was touring under the name al jardine of the beach boys and brian wilson had just released another album which was called smile unreleased works by the beach boys the issue with this is they didn't own the rights to the name the beach boys so anything that they did was misappropriating the name the beach boys even though brian wilson one of the main members of the beach boys was releasing music by the beach boys crazy and this is why ownership is so important and why you need a trademark imagine this you've just built an awesome house and it is looking sick inside you have kitted it out you've even got those taps where the water like comes over the top amazing and then someone comes along turfs you out knocks your house down and says this is not your land you have no right to build this house guys quick interruption you're clearly releasing music and serious about getting results so have you checked out dk music business academy it's got over 50 hours worth of courses including the road map to one million streams course on top of that you've got live sessions with me every single week and a community of like-minded musicians from all over the world and as well as that there's even my playlisting tool sonar where you can get in touch with playlist curators when you're releasing music what have you got to lose seven day free trial links in the description let's crack on with the video so when should you trademark now this is where you have to be clever because it does cost money to trademark not only do you have to trademark the name potentially you're trademarking the logo but also in different areas which we'll come to in a minute so we need to be clever and not just trademark from the start only to waste money but the right time for me is when you have income and outgoing let's say you're bringing money in from streams from regular gigs or tours maybe some merch at this point you are a bonafide business now a business doesn't mean you have a trademark but if you have a business then you need a business bank account if you have a business bank account you're going to be paying taxes at which point this is the time that you should think about having a trademark so then comes the million dollar question how did coldplay get so big sheer luck comically bad music i'm the quiz master and even i don't know it's b the answer is b no that's not the question the question is how do you trademap well first you have to do a search to make sure that no one else has that name because if they do you can't trademark it so once you've discovered that the trademark is available at which point you need to decide who is going to own this trademark could be yourself if you're an artist or it could be one person two people or all of a band now what's really important is that this is agreed with because people will leave a band people will join a band but ownership is forever so whoever owns that trademark can literally put a stop to everything that happens from that point onwards with that band next you need to decide where the trademark will be because every territory needs its own trademark so i happen to be in the uk right now so if i trademark the name granddad's belly button fluff extractors i'd be an idiot but also it means i haven't trademarked it in germany or australia or america so if granddad's belly button fluff extractors exists in america with an american trademark they're fine it means i can't step on their toes and they can't step on my toes and lastly you need to decide on the category that your trademark will fit in this is where it gets complicated because there's different trademarks for things like education or entertainment or merchandise as in clothing and so you need to buy a trademark for each of the categories that you're going to fit in this is where it starts to get quite expensive trademarking in your country will cost a different amount depending on where you live but let's take the us as an example it costs around 350 dollars to trademark your name and 350 to trademark your logo now if you want to trademark your name and your logo in entertainment but you also want to trademark your name and your logo in merch or parallel then all of a sudden you're not talking about a 350 across the board payment you're talking about four lots and if if you start looking into different countries all of a sudden it gets more and more expensive now there are a few ways of doing this it usually takes around 18 months to trademark a name and a logo you can do this yourself with some painstaking google searching and form filling or you can hire a lawyer in fact i do believe that if you are outside of the us trying to fulfill a trademark in the us i think you do need a lawyer anyway legally but you can do a lot of this yourself depending on what you want to trademark so in summary we have to be protective over the brand that you are building that someone can't come and steal it or knock it down but at the same point we also have to be mindful that it's quite expensive so the timing is right in fact a lot of major artists didn't even start trademarking until six months after their debut album at which point they were like okay this is making some money we really need to protect this but as this can get quite expensive my advice is make sure you are onto a winner because this is about priorities and if you are going to invest a thousand dollars into a trademark think of what you could do with that thousand dollars should this be about music promo to make sure that you can get your name out there first get some money in and use that money to then build your trademark so there you go

Thanks for your comment Myrtle Pleskac, have a nice day.
- Aja Rehmann, Staff Member

Thanks for this interesting article

Thanks Cheryll your participation is very much appreciated
- Aja Rehmann

About the author

Aja Rehmann

I've studied prehistoric archaeology at Radford University in Radford and I am an expert in sociology of science. I usually feel tired. My previous job was medical records technician I held this position for 24 years, I love talking about magic and making crafts. Huge fan of Paulo Coelho I practice snowmobile racing and collect jersey cards.