Band names: Trademark or Right of Publicity Infringement?
June 25, 2009 No Comments »
Recently, a question was posed to me along the lines of “I am aware of a website selling t-shirts that include the name of a band I represent. This company does not have permission. If the band would like to settle this issue without filing a lawsuit, what would be the best way of dealing with this matter?”
Answer: Generally, band names are in the arena of trademark law as opposed to right of publicity. Some personalities are identifiable with their band name. If the t-shirts include images of the band members, then conceivably, each band member could have a right of publicity claim as well as a trademark infringement claim.