Hey babys,
I'm sorry. Yell at me and I'll stop, but this nugglet is too hard to
pass up on posting.
I live in Brooklyn, so maybe I got a chip on my shoulder seeing all this
cash being poured into this "scene" whilst real shit is struggling
harder than ever. Forgive me. Who's down with Defending Brooklyn?
BTW, Larry Tee wrote Ru Paul's only hit "Supermodel"
sigh...
Quote from the electroclash (R) yahoo group by a poster [name withheld]:
'ELECTROCLASH' is a word that is trademarked by Larry
Tee, U.S. Trademarks #78104250, #78124151, and
#78123832. (see the bottom of this email for the full
trademark info and how to view these) A well-known
electro store/distro-owner told me the anecdote that
Dj Hell (Gigolo honcho) came up with the term and was
working with Tee on some kind of trans-atlantic
promotional tour/thing. Apparently, that partnership
broke down possibly over the fact that Larry Tee had
registered the trademark (I've looked the registration
up in the Patents and Trademarks gov't db). Hell's
idea of bringing together like-minded artists (beyond
the Gigolo roster) seemed a sensible move with the
increased interest in electro and more touring electro
acts. The trademarking is legit, but the media use of
'electroclash' as a genre name hands the
press-identification of several areas of electro over
to the mercy of Tee's exercising his trademark legal
control.
In other words, artists can describe their music as
'electroclash' only as long as Tee will allow before
legally requiring them to stop. If the press uses the
term to positively review an artists' work, Tee can
seek legal means to prevent the artist from using it
to promote themselves. The fact that the media uses
'electroclash' as a broad genre word doesn't mean that
Tee has any less rights to litigate.
What this means is that 'electroclash' (or should I
write 'electroclash(r)' is as commercial a word as
'pepsi' or 'kleenex' and that Tee can similarly sue
anyone using the word 'electroclash(tm)' in an
ad/flyer/poster/promo/etc. There are fair-use
references to Tee's word that he can't legally stop of
course, but he is quite a position of control at this
point, should he choose to exercise it.
If the media refers to 'electroclash' as a broad term
covering electro, breaks, electro-funk, electro-pop,
neo-italo-disco, whatever else is outside of his
roster of official 'electroclash' artists, then Tee is
somewhat handed over press control of these other
areas of music he also becomes the media's reference
to who is who in these other music scenes (electro,
neo-italo-etc, etc)
The potential problem is similar to the way we
Americans say 'gimme a kleenex' when we want to blow
our noses. We don't necessarily want a "Kleenex(r)"
brand tissue, we just want any old tissue-paper that
works, but the brand name was associated with
tissue-paper so early on that Kleenex(tm) brand kind
of has this 'in'. There is also a sense that Kleenex
brand must be the best and all other tissue-papers are
merely adequate copies at best. This creates an
imbalance in the marketplace.
Any other company making 'tissue-paper' can't put
'KLEENEX' on their box, in their ads, etc, etc, and
appear less on the radar in terms of competing
'kleenex' in the public's sense of the word.
A competitor can advertise 'buy our brand of kleenex,
they're softer!' as that would be a trademark
violation. Similarly, if a magazine reviews a record
and says "one of the best electroclash records this
year" and the artist puts this quote in an
advertisement or promo packet, Tee can sue them. Some
of the artists' best reviews may not be legally
quoteable because the media uses the trademarked word
as though it was a genre.
What happens if Tee tightens up usage of the word
'electroclash' (as he has every legal right to do so!)
Pretty soon, electro artists *not* on his roster but
who are making similar music (maybe even had done so
before the trademark/press-hype under other names
'electro-pop' or whatever) ...they could not put 'an
electroclash-like artist' or 'electroclash band' on
their flyers, web site, etc without getting a lawsuit
from Tee! If a member of the public wanted to hear
some of this 'electroclash' music they've read about
in a magazine, they might get online and type
'electroclash' in google, and what do they get?
Well, if Tee has exercised his trademark control,
they'd not get any artist that Tee went after. He
could legally threaten that they don't advertise being
'electroclash' on their web site.
Of course to regulate use of the web is pretty
difficult, but he'd have a pretty strong legal case
against an artists' use of the word. You know, I'm
not saying Tee would ever exercise this control or is
out to do any harm (well, make an controlled income
certainly, else why would you bother to register the
trademark, eh?)
With that in mind, consider that this list's very name
has more in common with a list called "Pepsi" or
"Microsoft" than a list called "Miami-bass" or
"synth-pop". Not that that is bad, but I just didn't
see any reference to that on the yahoogroups page.
So the problem is that, in the eyes of the media,
'electroclash' is a genre (emerging) and at the end of
the day, the use of the word 'electroclash', is
legally controlled by Larry Tee.
Due to the compromised nature of the very word
'electroclash', it is my opinion that the name of the
list be changed, as it currently is much more broadly
about electro and not about Larry's roster.
Or.. at least address the 'word' issue in the
description of the list, as it currently seems to
innocently refer to 'electroclash' as a music genre.
Tee has a lot of potentially *free* promotional work
getting done as long as the word 'electroclash' is
being used as a genre-name by the media.
I have nothing against Larry Tee's promotion of
electro, I'm just concerned about the electro-related
music communities that were already active and now may
have to live under the shadow of the media's use of
the word 'electroclash', which is *not* public domain.
I'm sending this to my music-writer friend Philip
hoping he'll write about it cuz he's a smart guy.
Maybe he'll see flaws in this msg or else a way out of
this mess. I'd like to hear what everybody else
thinks about this issue.
---
'ELECTROCLASH' trademark #78104250:
<
http://tess.uspto.gov>
-do a 'dictionary search' of 'electroclash'
-you'll see that Lawrence Thom (Larry Tee) has not
only ELECTROCLASH, but ELECTROCLAS*, ELECTROCLA*, and
ELECTROCLASH RECORDS (Thus the 'ELECTROKLASH'
compilation that came out that someone else assembled,
and www.electroklash.com)
(I can't remember if you need special access to see
that web-database or not...contact your local
public/business library if so)
Word Mark ELECTROCLASH
Goods and Services IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S:
entertainment services,
namely conducting music, film, video and multimedia
conferences,
festivals, concerts and seminars
Mark Drawing Code (5) WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
IN STYLIZED FORM
Serial Number 78104250
Filing Date January 23, 2002
Filed ITU FILED AS ITU
Attorney of Record Douglas Calvin
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
Owner (APPLICANT) Lawrence Thom INDIVIDUAL UNITED
STATES XXX East Xth
Street Apt #7 New York NEW YORK 10009
-----------------------
(I XX'd out the address numbers above to be polite)
------------------
What are the benefits of federal trademark
registration?
1. Constructive notice nationwide of the trademark
owner's claim.
2. Evidence of ownership of the trademark.
3. Jurisdiction of federal courts may be invoked.
4. Registration can be used as a basis for obtaining
registration in foreign countries.
5. Registration may be filed with U.S. Customs Service
to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods.
- from the U.S. Trademark faq:
<
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmfaq.htm>
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