Semi inspired by the “Can I do what Warhol did” thread, a lot of bands are named after copyrighted material (e.g. Black Sabbath is named after a movie, many Black Metal bands take their names from the Lord of the Rings).
How are they able to get away with this? Is it just considered “fair use”? Have any bands ever been sued for their name (I know some bands have been sued for sharing a name with another band, but I’ve not heard of any being sued because they took their name from a book/movie/game/etc.).
Well, not a copyright, exactly, but the band Chicago released its first album under the name Chicago Transit Authority and was threatened with a suit by the city of Chicago for infringing on the trademark of the city’s public transportation operator.
Which I think is the key point overall. Copyright is to the overall work. It doesn’t limit the use of every word, phrase, or idea in the work or my post here would be in trouble. Hobbit is trademarked by the Tolkien estate so Blood Soaked Death Hobbit would be a bad metal band name, Dungeons and Dragons got away with a race called halflings that were modeled on hobbits (and if wiki is right was a term also used by Tolkien) but the word was not Trademarked. Homicidal Halfling Hookers would thus be an appropriate band name (I’m assuming nobody else has trademarked the name since the name got used elsewhere as well.)
Famed Tallahassee, FL death metal crew Darth Vader’s Church were threatened with legal action by Lucasfilm for trademark infringement so they shortened it to the-less-grin-inducing DVC. Everyone still loved them, of course; we had a fantastic local music scene in Tally back in the day.
The seminal country rock group Poco was originally called “Pogo” until Walt Kelly threatened to sue. Not sure how strong a case he would have had; I can’t determine if he had trademarked the name.
They Might Be Giants are named after a movie.
Duran Duran come from a character name in Barbarella.
Death Cab for Cutie are named for a Bonzo Dog Band song.
Or the Tolkien estate may not have actually trademarked every single name in the complete works? IIRC, while copyright exists *ex proprio vigore *when the work is created, you have to file for trademark specifically.
Deep Purple is taken from a song title.
Fall Out Boy comes from a character in the Simpsons comic book.
Husker Du was named for a children’s game
REO Speedwagon took their name from a model of a truck, though the company was long out of business when the group was formed.
The Thomson Twins are named for a couple of characters in the Tin Tin comics, but the characters were actually twins: they looked identical, but their names were Thompson and Thomson (in English editions: in the original French, they were Dupont and Dupond).
That in turn was named for a quote from Cervantes Don Quixote.
The Rolling Stones took their name from a Muddy Waters song. It is pretty common for bands to take names from songs or literature. It is taking names from one another that ends them up in court. www.rollingstone.com/…/one-direction-settle-lawsuit-again…
For starters, Black Sabbath was an expression way before the movie. Getting intelectual protections for items named “Black Sabbath”, “Exodus” or “Capri” won’t work because those are all pre-existing terms with their own meanings. “Capri, c’est fini” would be protected, because that wasn’t an expression before the song - “Capri” alone wouldn’t.
Red Cross had to change their name to Redd Kross
Captain America became Eugenius
Those who did not have to change their names…
The Boo Radleys - character in To Kill A Mockingbird
Funeral for a Friend - an Elton John Song
Demon Cleaner - a Kyuss song
Conan - Conan
The Devil Wears Prada - book title
My Bloody Valentine - movie title
Faster Pussycat - part of a movie title
Mudhoney - movie title
Atari Teenage Riot - Atari
Velocity Girl - a Primal Scream song
Love and Rockets - a series of graphic novels
Sisters of Mercy - a Leonard Cohen song
White Zombie - movie title. Their second album, “Make Them Die Slowly”, was also a movie title