Trademark Registration For Musician
Taylor Swift’s trademark attorneys recently applied for trademark protection for various words and phrases from her songs, as you may have heard. These trademark applications are currently going through the USPTO approval process, so it’s still unclear whether they’ll be authorized. However, the necessity and desire for singers to safeguard their intellectual property is nothing new, and it’s worth looking at why Swift and her legal team are pursuing trademark rights for these words and the specific protections she’ll be entitled to.
Trademarks for lyrics, such as those filed by Taylor Swift, cover products and services rather than music.
Copyright protects creative works, such as songs, in this case. These trademark applications aren’t meant to restrict other musicians (or artists) from utilizing Swift’s lyrics in other creative works (but it’s worth noting that Swift’s copyrights enforce these protections). Taylor Swift and other singers who submit trademark applications seek protection for items or services, such as t-shirts or other clothing. Swift’s current batch of apps includes items as diverse as bath soaps and more traditional commodities like apparel.
The musician is identified as the source of the goods or services through trademarks.
The most important thing to understand about trademarks is that they are meant to make the source of a product or service apparent. The reasoning behind these Taylor Swift trademark applications is that her core audience would be interested in purchasing a lifestyle, fashion, and beauty products – and more – that are associated with Taylor Swift (under their branding with Swift’s lyrics and phrases), and that trademark protection is required to ensure that other companies do not take advantage of these identifying factors to mislead the buying public into thinking they are purchasing a Taylor Swift product.
Trademarks for lyrics and song titles must still follow USPTO guidelines.
The US Patent and Trademark Office evaluates trademarks based on their strength; a property closely tied to a mark’s distinctiveness. “Fanciful” or fully made-up words or phrases get the best grades. The way strength is applied to lyrics differs from how it is used to more traditional company or product names, but one thing stays constant: generic words or phrases cannot be protected. In other words, just adopting a generic, generally used, purely descriptive term or phrase in a song does not entitle a musician to trademark it. The lyric in question must be a unique, original combination of words that can be demonstrated to be strongly tied to or associated with the vocalist.
Trademarks can protect musicians’ rights to profit from their songs and lyrics.
In the fields of art and music, bootleg or counterfeit items are a widespread occurrence. Because so much popular music is omnipresent and easily available, other businesses and individuals are always motivated to profit from its success, even if they aren’t authorised to. Some people may not even realise they are infringing on a trademark by making items with someone else’s song lyrics because they are unaware of trademark laws and feel they are authorised. Whether on purpose or not, the sale of these items might reduce the revenues that musicians are entitled to from their work. A registered trademark establishes a public record indicating a musician or composer is legally entitled to the rights to a lyric or phrase and allows the trademark owner legal authority to halt the illegal sale of things that appear to be labelled as coming from them but aren’t. If a trademark owner can show a financial loss due to these other sales, they may be entitled to damages — but only if their trademark has been registered.
Getting a trademark today might help you avoid issues later.
Taylor Swift has dealt with trademark troubles before – in 2014; she was on the receiving end of trademark infringement allegations. A key advantage of trademark registration is that it protects you from infringing on someone else’s trademark. The trademark application procedure begins with an extensive study of existing marks to avoid a scenario like this. A well-researched, unique trademark will be subject to much greater protections, and a well-researched, distinctive trademark will be subject to much broader safeguards. A successfully registered mark indicates that the USPTO agrees with you on the uniqueness of your mark, giving you a stronger argument if you are accused of infringement. Registering a trademark as soon as you plan to use it to offer goods or services in commerce also protects you from subsequent infringers – the sooner you register your mark, the higher your chances of showing priority of use.