August 2, 2011
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/lead-singer-breaking-benjamin-says-fired-bandmates-unauthorized-163929618.html
Excerpted from:
Lead singer of Breaking Benjamin says he fired bandmates after unauthorized remix of hit song
By Michael Rubinkam, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Breaking Benjamin is evidently broken, at least for now.
The platinum-selling rock band from northeastern Pennsylvania is mired in a legal dispute over what its founder and lead singer, Benjamin Burnley, called an unauthorized remix of one of the band's hit songs, "Blow Me Away."
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Are you asking the question, "How can one band member fire the other band members? And who has rights to the name of the band?
Well, these are traditional and typical questions that seem to get asked only when there is trouble amongst the band members.
In this particular case, however, a quick review of the USPTO trademark database does reveal two interesting facts:
1. There is a U.S. Federal service mark registration for the name of the band, Breaking Benjamin.
and more importantly,
2. There is a recorded assignment on file at uspto.gov that shows that earlier this year that the now fired band mates assigned all of their interest in the service mark with Benjamin Burnley as the sole Assignee or current owner of the mark.
Of course, there could also be a partnership agreement that determines whether the fired bandmates have the ability to market and sell a remixed song but the ownership of the mark seems clear, unless there was a fraudulent conveyance involved with the assignment but those are circumstances that are as yet unknown to us.
So listen up all you rock 'n rollers! Who owns the rights to the name of your band? Is there a written agreement amongst the members of the band? Figure it out now before there is a problem later.
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Until next time,
William E. Maguire,
http://TrademarkEsq.blogspot.com
Web: www.TrademarkEsq.com
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Tuesday, August 02, 2011
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