My desired artist pseudonym's been used (barely) – inactive now

[Terri]

Hi.
I came up with an unusual musician name/pseudonym I’d like to use and did some Google research (“name music”) and saw that someone else has used it before.
The only thing is, this person is not in the US and it appears they are no longer active in music making. Last post on their sparse Soundcloud account was in 2014. They don’t have an official website and I can’t find them through BMI. It appears that they’ve only ever created about 4 songs.

I REALLY want to use this name and even form an LLC to work under. Do you think it’s okay to do?

[Art Munson]

I’m NOT a lawyer so take anything I say with a grain of salt and to be safe, get an attorney to advise you.

LLCs are formed by state so you might start by checking with your state. Also, unless the name is trademarked I don’t think it would be an issue. Then again I’m NOT a lawyer, you have been warned! 🙂

[seaneman]

Also not a lawyer… but I just did the name game with a band a couple years ago. If there’s no existing TM, and if the other artist is inactive you should be fine. Matter of fact, you might want to go ahead and trademark it yourself if you can. That’s how we eventually got the rights to our name, a lot of people wanted it, but we followed through with a tM and ended the argument. That said, when possible we didn’t hassle folks using the name for their local/unrelated things. Beware of social media backlash, also kindness etc… Cheers.

[MichaelL]

Hi Terri,

I am a lawyer. Is your proposed musician name/pseudonym a really great name, worth fighting for? Will it make a big difference to your business and establishing your brand?

Art is correct that an LLC is formed at the state level. Generally, you can conduct an online search of the LLC names regeistered in your state. There’s an initial registration fee and some states also charge an annual fee.

Conducting a comprehensive trademark search is not inexpensive and then registering your mark with the US Patent & Trademark Office is also not inexpensive. You also have to renew and maintain the mark, which adds expense over time.

That said, when possible we didn’t hassle folks using the name for their local/unrelated things.

Actually, there’s case law that supports the right to continue using a pre-established name within a geographic region if their use pre-dates yours.

[Terri]

Thank you all for your responses.

This person/duo is definitely outside the US. One social site says he’s in Spain, other places I believe his location was listed as Mexico.

I will definitely be forming an LLC regardless and just contacted the person who owns the .com domain (which he us simple sitting on… I do domain investing and know he has it listed on Sedo but I own many domains and am attempting to do a trade deal with him.)

I also contacted Spotify because he’s listed there (only 100 listens ever)… and he’s not a verified artist on there. So I need them to explain to me how I can eventually be listed as that artist (same name) without causing any problems.

Again, thank you all. I’m glad I found this site! Very helpful info.

[Author]

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