Name stolen and used world wide

[Jim Easton]

In 1972 the band-members decided to use the name, Third Stream. Shortly there after an artist was contacted to design our logo. The design of the logo won the artist an award. We paid to have the name registered, as well. Keep in mind we reregistered the band over 30 yrs ago.

We recently found a band on My Space, which are not only using the name Third Stream, but they have stolen our exact logo we paid an artist to create.

When I read their bio I discovered from their birth date that they were not even alive when the logo and name were registered.

We have sent them notices but they have not responded and continue to forge our logo and name.

What would you do if this happened to your band or business?

Thanks
-jim

[Jim vanBergen]

Legal action is your only discourse.

[FunkFaker]

i've actually been in a few small time bands that have had copywrited names, and enforced legal action. it works, assuming all the paper work is together. should be no problem.

[Reptil]

If it was "the" thing I was doing, I'd go a little pissed off I suppose. And tell em I'm sueing/destroying their lives/musical careers. And if that wouldn't help, I'd do it.

Happened to me before. In that case I didn't register anything. DJ name stolen, by a guy in the same city. He got fat contracts with crappy mainstream party organisation. I just changed my skin.
Did not look back. Too insignificant. I did invest money and time. And a number of fans turned up for his show, a couple of times, expecting me.
One of those confronted the guy. He basically was so full of sh!t he said he didn't care about anybody but himself. And according to the fan, it showed in his "performance". Well thank you very much for being an a-hole. The guy is not involved in music anymore.

In your case I'd get a GOOD lawyer, and sue their ass. That is why you had it registered in the first place. And hit them with the bill of your legal representation inmediately. IMO this is just a logical consequence of registering..

Please do remember, do not get angry, get even.

[needlz]

You shouldn't send the cease and desist letter yourself. You really need a lawyer to send one on your behalf. The real pisser is that these kids weren't even born when you had this done. Keep us posted on how this plays out.

[Remoteness]

I'd also contact the folks at Myspace and let them know whats going on...

I would also investigate with every person or company that band is involved in. You should know them better than they know themselves.

Gather the intelligence first then pounce on them hard!

[FULL-DUPLEX]

In this case the law is on your side...

[Mike Jasper]

Originally Posted by 2db

[IMG]We recently found a band on My Space, which are not only using the name Third Stream, but they have stolen our exact logo we paid an artist to create.

I would run to the media with this (your local media first, of course) in hopes of getting some publicity. You're not likely to win a big settlement here, so other than the publicity, a cease-and-desist order is all you can hope to get.

Try to milk it.

Jasper

[adrianex]

That sucks, It should be an easy case for you.

[Robobo1]

Take all of the great info on here to heart...

Then have a Gearslutz mod delete this whole thread. You don't want 'em to know you're coming! Googling for "Third Stream" in the coming days/weeks might just bring up this page.

[Vocalvoodoo]

Originally Posted by 2db

In 1972 the band-members decided to use the name, Third Stream. Shortly there after an artist was contacted to design our logo. The design of the logo won the artist an award. We paid to have the name registered, as well. Keep in mind we reregistered the band over 30 yrs ago.

We recently found a band on My Space, which are not only using the name Third Stream, but they have stolen our exact logo we paid an artist to create.

When I read their bio I discovered from their birth date that they were not even alive when the logo and name were registered.

We have sent them notices but they have not responded and continue to forge our logo and name.

What would you do if this happened to your band or business?

Thanks
-jim

Please disregard my message to you on myspace. I was confused. LOL

[Remoteness]

Has anyone Googled "Third Stream" as a phrase yet?

[Remoteness]

Many individuals copy or impersonate known artists and such. A similar situation happened on Myspace and a bunch of us emailed the crap out of that person and they finally changed their ways. The “power of the people” as they say.

We should bombard the other “Third Stream” with our own cease-and-desist order to those folks.

I just emailed the other “Third Stream” using this link. Please consider doing the same. Any way you want to look at it, they DID steal Jim's (band's) logo and that is truly not cool at all.

[cush]

You need a trademark attorney. Your band was formed in 1972 and you're still together? If so, and you're actively exploiting your trademark (especially doing interstate business), you probably have a case. But if you're not actively exploiting the trademark, the patent and trademark office will probably rule that it's up for grabs.

Before I paid money to a trademark attorney, I might sit back and wait for the other band to fail and break up. Chances are that's what's going to happen.

[edwinhurwitz]

My guess is that they came up with Third Stream independently and then found and liked your logo. Third Stream is also a genre of music, with Ran Blake of the New England Conservatory as a well known proponent. People who are versed in the fringes of jazz would know all about it and given the bio of this bad, I wouldn't be surprised if this is where they got it.

In the history of jazz, there certainly is a lot of appropriation (stealing? borrowing? inspiration?) going on.

In dealing with this kind of infringement, you really have to be able to prove loss as well as malicious intent on the part of the "borrower". My wife bought a business in Boston from someone who wanted to move out of town. She then created a new logo and moved the business and expanded the clientele and scope of what she does (she creates perfume, and having studied as a artist, she uses not only visual but also musical events as inspiration, but I digress). When we moved to Colorado a few years later, an ex-partner of the original owner took out an ad in Boston papers claiming that she had gone out of business and that he had the full customer list and could supply all of her blends, etc. Not only that, he used her copyrighted logo very prominently in the ad. Dawn sought help from a lawyer and it was determined that there was not much she could do, even though the guy was lying through his teeth. The best revenge proved to be in living well, now Dawn is established internationally (check out the latest Italian Vanity Fair) and the lying "borrower" is nowhere to be seen.


YMMV, but how much money and anguish do you want to expend? The other option might be to sell them the name and logo. A band here in Boulder did that 10 years ago or so and made quite a hefty sum!

Edwin

[Jim Easton]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Many individuals copy or impersonate known artists and such. A similar situation happened on Myspace and a bunch of us emailed the crap out of that person and they finally changed their ways. The “power of the people” as they say.

We should bombard the other “Third Stream” with our own cease-and-desist order to those folks.

I just emailed the other “Third Stream” using this link. Please consider doing the same. Any way you want to look at it, they DID steal Jim's (band's) logo and that is truly not cool at all.

Thanks Steve, for putting together the masses and using GS forum to help out. Very much appreciated-!!

My wife started to email the friends of the impostors to let them know of the hijacking.

They have not logged into the site for some time and that may be their intent to Just let the site stand out there as if they are legit.

[treymonfauntre]

i think you guys are going a bit wild on this. look at their myspace-- they have 153 views. no doubt 50 of them were from here. i bet they're more than surprised to find out anybody from the original third stream is still alive.

plus they're from PALM COAST florida. its literally an oversized retirement neighborhood. i doubt these guys are making a dime off your name.

you should definitely tell them you're not alright with them using your logo, but hiring a lawyer and then suing them for legal costs is taking it way too far for this situation.

[matt thomas]

I wouldn't do anything about it.

Are they hurting you?

Although they are obviously in the wrong, if I were you I'd just be happy that I helped someone else out by designing them a logo. I don't see what the point would be of taking them to court, just because you can sue doesn't mean you have to.

If they ever make millions ask for your share then, otherwise just I'd let them be, its probably just some kids having fun (i haven't checked their site).

narco

[Remoteness]

Yeah, I hear you folks loud and clear but at minimum they should remove the logo. It's not their logo, they did not design it or pay for it and they were warned by the owner and associates...

I believe they would to the right thing if enough people suggested they cease-and-desist with regard to the logo. It's not very fair to Jim and his band mates.

[Pohaku]

Alright, alright. This one is a little hard to ignore. I'm not a trademark lawyer, but was your cease and desist letter (usually the first step) sent by you or a lawyer? As cheesey as it sounds, the lawyer letterhead for the nastygram does sometimes gain you some traction. Sometimes enough traction to actually get a result without having to do more. I'll trot this past one of my partners who does this kind of work and get his comments. He's done some interesting stuff. One of his clients put out a gag product called Roadkill Helper in a box that looked just like -- you guessed it -- Hamburger Helper. Lots of truck stops carried it. General Mills was not amused The dispute was ultimately settled and the product is no longer available (sorry guys) except for a case of them that we have.

At any rate, ultimately, any action you take should be economically rational. Suing on principle when it doesn't make economic sense might be emotionally satisfying at first, but is usually and ultimately a significant mistake and we don't recommend it.

[Jim Easton]

Originally Posted by Pohaku

Alright, alright. This one is a little hard to ignore. I'm not a trademark lawyer, but was your cease and desist letter (usually the first step) sent by you or a lawyer? As cheesey as it sounds, the lawyer letterhead for the nastygram does sometimes gain you some traction. Sometimes enough traction to actually get a result without having to do more. I'll trot this past one of my partners who does this kind of work and get his comments. He's done some interesting stuff. One of his clients put out a gag product called Roadkill Helper in a box that looked just like -- you guessed it -- Hamburger Helper. Lots of truck stops carried it. General Mills was not amused The dispute was ultimately settled and the product is no longer available (sorry guys) except for a case of them that we have.

At any rate, ultimately, any action you take should be economically rational. Suing on principle when it doesn't make economic sense might be emotionally satisfying at first, but is usually and ultimately a significant mistake and we don't recommend it.

At this point the impostors have not logged into there site to receive any mail so... a letter was sent to My Space and they have responded with a six question form we need to answer in order for MS to terminate the impostor web site. The six question form was forwarded to our attorney.

If MS has an address on this band we hope to have the attorneys letter forwarded to them a letter to cease and desist.

Thanks for your comments and concern.

[Pohaku]

Good place to start. If you want to have an off line conversation about this, I'm happy to kibitz. Gratis. Just PM me.

[Jim Easton]

Originally Posted by Pohaku

Good place to start. If you want to have an off line conversation about this, I'm happy to kibitz. Gratis. Just PM me.

Check your inbox, please..