Music

Be Very Careful Using the Phrase “Born to Rock.” You Don’t Want to Get Sued.

For news and information purposes only. Please don’t sue me.I once had a very interesting conversation with Gene Simmons of KISS about business savvy.  

“You ever play Monopoly?” he asked.

“Sure.  Who hasn’t?”

“Well, you know the little guy with the moustache carrying around the bag with the dollar sign on it?  How many times have you seen that image?  The bag, I mean.  With the dollar sign on it.”

“Hundreds of times.  Thousands,” I replied.

“Well, let me tell you a secret,” he said, leaning back with a satisfied grin.

“I did a trademark search and I found out that no one owned that image of a bag with a dollar sign on it.  So I filed for it and got it. That’s my image.  Now whenever anyone wants to use an icon, picture or whatever with a bag featuring a dollar sign, they have to deal with me.”

Now how many times have you heard/seen/read the phrase “born to rock” in a song/magazine/article/t-shirt? Plenty, I’m sure.  We’ve run into a similar situation with that.  Not with Gene, though.  With a guitar design company.  From Ars Technica:

A guitar design firm called Born to Rock has won an initial victory over the user-generated T-shirt-printing website CafePress in a legal battle over whether CafePress users will be allowed to use the company’s name as part of their T-shirt designs. While the guitar firm initially registered the phrase only for use selling guitars, it has taken the position that any use of the phrase “born to rock” by a CafePress user infringes its trademarks.

CafePress is a popular website that allows users to create their own graphical designs and have them printed on T-shirts, mugs, and other items. It sells these items on users’ behalf and splits the proceeds.

Read the rest here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38040 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

One thought on “Be Very Careful Using the Phrase “Born to Rock.” You Don’t Want to Get Sued.

  • Pretty sure Gene was full of %$#@. He's talking as if trademarks are copyright, and they're not. Copyright keeps anyone from copying the thing in any context (bar fair use, etc.), but you have to buy it from the original owner of the copyright — or someone who bought it from that guy. You can't just go out and copyright something just because no-one else has.

    So if you want to just grab something you have to go via trademark law, and trademarks have to be taken out for well-defined business areas. For example, he could have trademarked it in the context of, say, games, or t-shirts, or making a chocolate bar called "Money". He could even claim it in several categories, though it costs the same again in money and paperwork. But everyone else would still be free to use it in other, unrelated business contexts. Furthermore *you have to use it* or it's null and void. Unless he's selling stuff with money bag icons on them in the categories he's claimed, he can't legally force anyone to pay him penny one.

    The story you linked to is overblown for the first of those reasons. If you read the legal brief, the Born to Rock people didn't actually sue until they had gone out and got a new trademark on "Born to Rock" in the category "T-shirts", and that's the basis of the ruling.

    Reply

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