ELVH, Inc., Eddie Van Halen, makes multiple claims as to the infringements by Kelly Van Halen, the drummer’s ex-wife. Kelly Van Halen, formerly Kelly Carter, was married to Alex Van Halen until their divorce in August 1996. Van Halen registered their band’s name for trademark in 1978 upon the release of their debut album “Van…
How To Protect Your Band From Chinese Counterfeiters – Part 2 For a band to begin to protect their merchandise in China and keep counterfeiters at bay, the band must apply for both copyright and trademark protection in China. Using both of these intellectual property rights, the band can protect their logos, lyrics, likenesses, and…
In the modern age of music streaming and social media, a band’s merchandise is more important than ever before. Merchandise acts a symbol for the band, and advertisement to be worn around to build hype, and most importantly, is a major form of profit. It is unacceptable, therefore, that your image can be tarnished and…
After Michael Jackson’s death in 2009, defendant Vintage Pop Media LLC created several websites where they displayed and sold copyright protected property of Michael Jackson. This included “key art” from Jackson’s movie “This Is It”, audio recordings of his song “Destiny”, material from an anniversary DVD of “Thriller”, and an image of Michael Jackson performing…
When it comes to protecting their brand, many musicians or rightful owners of a musician’s brand have had to take matters to court over infringement disputes. For example, Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. and its wholly owned subsidiary Authentic Hendrix, L.L.C. (collectively “Experience Hendrix”) brought suit against Andrew Pitsicalis for trademark infringement. Experience Hendrix owns a number…
Nefarious individuals are everywhere waiting to infringe on your band’s trademark rights and merchandise. These people often set up outside the venue you are playing for the night and attempt to profit off your hard work and dedication. How can bands protect themselves, their registered marks, and general good will of their fans? Bands have…
What Is Trade Dress? Trade Dress is defined as: “the total appearance and image of a product, including features such as size, texture, shape, color or color combinations, graphics, and even particular advertising and marketing techniques used to promote its sale.” [1] Perhaps the most iconic trade dress is the Coca-Cola bottle. The shape and…
So far, we’ve discussed some of the logistics around copyright, how it’s obtained, and what people use it for. But there are still some important questions to answer when it comes to copyright. How long does one own the rights to their copyright, what rights does a rights holder have, and what are the limitations…
Up until this point, we have discussed the vast history of copyright law in the United States. From the printing press until the rise of social media, a lot has changed in copyright law. Now, we’re going to dive into the specifics of copyright law. What is it? Who controls and monitors it? And how…
