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Someone has committed copyright infringement against my website, what should I do?
Someone has committed copyright infringement against my website. They said that they copyrighted my company's name, By Teens 4 Teens, and are going to sell it for $3500 to a magazine company. He says that he's a lawyer and a website designer, although, I'm not sure if that's valid information or not, however, he has committed copyright infringement against myself and my company by using my company's name. What should I do? How do I found out if he actually copyrighted/trademarked the business name?
Law & Ethics - 4 Answers - 2007-12-12 20:05:17

Best Answer
As a general matter, names are not subject to copyright protection. He has not committed copyright infringement. Nor can he "copyright" the name of your company. Unless he has infringed any trademark rights, he is actually free to use your name. At this point, nothing in your facts suggests that you have acquired trademark rights in your name. Using your name in a website, in and of itself, is generally not enough. If the name of your company/website is important to you, I suggest you speak confidentially with a trademark attorney to discuss your options. You have probably already disclosed too much information publicly, including what appears to be the actual name of your company. ------------------- Addition: You don't "trademark" a name. You acquire trademark rights by using a mark in commerce. After you have acquired trademark rights, then you can register your trademark with the USPTO. It's impossible to say in the abstract whether he has acquired trademark rights. You can go to the USPTO website and look for a federal registration, but that doesn't rule out state registrations and common law trademark rights. As I've already suggested, you should really consult an attorney to receive more focused guidance. Your understanding of basic copyright and trademark law is flawed. A good trademark attorney will help you better understand the law.

All Answers
Answer 1
Report copyright infrigment to the police or something. You could get alot of money, and he could get fined. You could also sue the person you infracted the copyright.
2007-12-12 20:09:44

Answer 2
You can't copyright a name. You can trademark it. He's probably full of it.
2007-12-12 20:10:02

Answer 3
As a general matter, names are not subject to copyright protection. He has not committed copyright infringement. Nor can he "copyright" the name of your company. Unless he has infringed any trademark rights, he is actually free to use your name. At this point, nothing in your facts suggests that you have acquired trademark rights in your name. Using your name in a website, in and of itself, is generally not enough. If the name of your company/website is important to you, I suggest you speak confidentially with a trademark attorney to discuss your options. You have probably already disclosed too much information publicly, including what appears to be the actual name of your company. ------------------- Addition: You don't "trademark" a name. You acquire trademark rights by using a mark in commerce. After you have acquired trademark rights, then you can register your trademark with the USPTO. It's impossible to say in the abstract whether he has acquired trademark rights. You can go to the USPTO website and look for a federal registration, but that doesn't rule out state registrations and common law trademark rights. As I've already suggested, you should really consult an attorney to receive more focused guidance. Your understanding of basic copyright and trademark law is flawed. A good trademark attorney will help you better understand the law.
2007-12-12 20:12:57

Answer 4
see www.chillingeffects.org for definitive info on what it takes....but as others have told yo u, the specifics of your question are not about copyright but trademark.
2007-12-12 22:16:46