I was just looking at the Sean Cody site and noticed something interesting. At the bottom of each model profile page they list the models name in small print along with a "TM" trademark symbol, indicating that the name is a trade mark of Cody Media.
WTF?
Either this is a joke or a misprint, or maybe Sean Cody is actually trademarking names now?
I haven't seen Chad Knows Law here for a while, and Chip isn't as active, but...
It would seem to me that trademarking people's names would be fraught with problems for the trademarker.
I shot with a model once, put his work on my site within days. A few months later got an e-mail from some studio that said the model and the name were "exclusive" to them.
I said: "I shot with him BEFORE you did.". Never heard from them again.
With the exception of some real world megastars with unusual names, I believe the ability to trademark a person's "name" would be tough.
The Obama's fought a toy company that put out likenesses of their daughters, and seem to have prevailed; but I don't believe that it was any kind of legal action, just letter writing pressure.
Tiger Woods is fighting an adult toy company now over a Doll that looks like him. The company 's response: "Screw Off!".One porn studio has a parody flick on now referring to Levi Johnson, complete with props similar to the Playgirl shoot.
I'm not sure there's real precedence in porn names. Maybe a couple of Hollywood names. Not sure even Donald Trump has his name Trademarked.
It's common practice for companies to trademark names, in fact, several porn stars have their names trademarked, they are, afterall, what they run their businesses on.
Try setting up a site or company that uses the name, Jenna James and see how long you last before getting taken to court for trademark violation.
Regards,
Lee
Of course that would make sense, but they aren't using full names like that. They are supposely trademarking first names like Darren, Lane, Troy, Mark, Dennis, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee
I'm guessing that they didn't file a trademark for those names, just the webmaster putting all the tm marks on anything.
Jimmy
It would be the difference between TMing Corbin Fischer, vs TMing Joe Blow on Corbin Fischer's site.
How i read it, is that the model names together i.e....
'Cameron and Jake' is actually the trademark, not simply the name 'Cameron' or 'Jake' on their own.
Regards,
Lee
Look on more than 1 page. And maybe one without 2 models fucking. LOL.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee
Jimmy
So what does this trademarking of names mean to affiliates? Are we not able to use a model's name in the title of our posts, or title or description tags for a pic, video, or post of our sponsors' pics videos?
If they file a frivolous lawsuit against me for using a name like "Troy" or "Jake" I'll win & then make them pay my attorney fees. :)
Actually this could be a good thing. Think of the free publicity a lawsuit like that could generate. Mainstream media would probably pick it up too.
Not sure what I was thinking. I think what I said doesn't apply to affiliates.
Overtaxed today with work, I guess.
The whole area of tradmarking a model's name, *IF* that model name refers to a single individual, is a very hazy area.
For example, a trademark for "Luke Skywalker" or "James Bond" would probably hold up, because those are fictitious people, and doesn't refer to a single human being.
But trademarking the stage name of a living person, when the name refers only to that person, is not likely to be successful. Of course, it won't stop someone from filing a trademark, and maybe even getting it if the trademark examiner is asleep at the switch, but if it were ever actually litigated, I doubt it would hold up. People like Elvis Presley are different, because that falls under rights of personality and publicity, which relate to a real human being, not to a persona or role played by an actor.
Now, the other issue is, if a model's name is "Stefan" or "Caden" or something, just a first name... there's no way that trademark would hold up because it's too generic.
My guess is they haven't actually filed any trademark applications. It's somebody's lame attempt to try and intimidate others.
Oh and... even if one gets a trademark, it doesn't prevent someone from commenting, reviewing, writing articles, etc. It only prevents the use of that name in commerce. So, for example, one could say "Lucas Rodd is one of the worst porn performers ever", but not "Lucas Rodd says buy our brand of penis enlargement pills."
Wayne is a trademark of Cody Media Inc.???
Everett is a trademark of Cody Media Inc.???
I thought I fucked it up when registering "teenboys" as a trademark here ;-)
Where can I lookup the registered trademarks?
Here claiming a registered trademark is illegal... how bout in the US?
Just to be clear, a "TM" next to something is pretty meaningless legally. It simply means that someone is claiming proprietary rights to a name.
One uses the TM to signify that they're staking claim to a trademark before the patent and trademark office has actually registered the trademark. Additionally, to get a federal trademark, the name has to be in use in interstate commerce for some minimum period of time (3 years? 5 years? Can't remember.) and one has to be able to show evidence that the name has been in use.
Once the mark is actually issued, then the rightsholder can use the circled "R" which means "Registered trademark." As I understand it, only then is there any real teeth; you can argue a common-law first use trademark, but if there's no registration and someone else can show they've used the mark around the same time you have, you're pretty much out of luck.
So in this case, I seriously doubt they've either registered the marks nor even applied for registration. Probably just some wanna-be lawyer type who thinks he knows the law. (like me!)
You can check online federal trademark records (including pending applications) at uspto.gov.
Ah, thanks Chip
so (r) (r in a circle) and TM are different... we only have (r) here
thanks for the clarification :D
That was really informative and interesting, Chip.
I think Chip's explanation is spot-on. We trademarked the Citiboyz name a couple of years ago because it's a fictitious name. And, like Chip points out, just putting a "tm" next to something is meaningless unless it's duly registered, which takes many months and is somewhat costly to be doing it all the time.
trademark world wide?? or only in USA ?
try to trademark a name world wide and tell me how much cost you
I see this
Ivan™ is a trademark of Cody Media Inc.
this is impossible that you can trademark the name IVAN
I have a friend the name IVAN, this guy can not use their name? LOL
Way to complicate things...thanx Chip 4 the post. Let me know if I can asnwer any questions that you guys may have.
Trademarks must be issued on a country-by-country basis, and the trademark applications aren't cheap. 15 years ago, when I was working for a nonprofit, we spent almost $10,000 registering a single trademark in about 15 countries.
But here's a giggle: I just decided to check out the US Patent and Trademark Office's online search. There isn't a single trademark application that I can find for anything relating to Sean Cody. Not "Sean Cody." Not "Cody Media". Nothing at all.
So it's all a facade, I guess.
I think its impossible trademark a name like "IVAN", its possible trademark a name + surname only for a concrete bussines, example, Calvin Klein, is a trademark to use in mode, or Britney Spears for music, but what happen if you legal name is a trademark name?
Off subject, but what if by law everyone had a trademark on their own name from birth?;)
agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by tim460
Learned something new every day.