The Best and Myspace

[eam...@bellyofthebest.com]

For those who are unaware... On November 16th, 2005, we were deleted
for alleged copyright infringement. We have no Idea what might have
lead to a "third party" filing an intellectual property rights
complaint against us since everything on our page was 100% ours.
Myspace refuses to give us any explanation of the suspicious
"infringement" charge.

What we do know is that on July 19th, 2005, Intermix, the company which
owned Myspace, was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (parent company
of Fox). Most of us are well aware of the political leanings of this
particular mega-corporation. Since 2002, The Best has always been
extremely critical of our nation's current administration, particularly
its global military ambitions. We intend to keep up our tuneful dissent
and will not be silenced.

So, we're branching out and spreading ourselves throughout the web so
that we're never reliant on any one web location. This is our google
groups presence. Also, Google's corporate motto is "Don't be evil" so
we sort of trust them.

[tdtd]

What's interesting is, isn't [our country's] motto supposed to be
something towards "Don't be evil" as well? Where, oh where, did we go
astray?

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to
the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all."

Hmm.. I thought there was something about evil in there. I guess I was
wrong....

[P]

Update:
We received a message from copyrig...@myspace.com

It went like this:

If you are having problems with band profiles, please make sure that
you
use your real and full name in the real name section at the profile's
creation.

Thank you,

MySpace.com

[P]

We replied to Myspace with this message:

"We rarely use our real names which is why our group is called The
Anonymous Ensemble. Since we signed up again prior to receiving this
email, is there any way to go back and put one of our real names into
the "real name section" so that we can avoid a future deletion?"

And they replied:

"You claim to be called "The Best" and " Anonymous Ensemble" What is
your bands name? "

[P]

So then, we replied:

"We're actually a theatre company called Anonymous Ensemble but we have
a rock theatre show called "The Best" which now functions more like a
band, playing various music venues, recording music etc.. So we get
booked as "The Best" but function as a legal entity as Anonymous
Ensemble. Thanks for communicating with us on this finally.
Can we find out who filed the copyright infringement complaint on us?"

I guess it may prove difficult to maintain any kind of identity
mystique and also function in the real legal world...

[P]

So then they replied:

"It was not a complaint, it was infringement. The name "The Best" is
owned by another band."

To which we replied:

"Interesting. However, this other band most likely doesn't actually
hold a legal trademark for "The Best" because we looked into it and
found that it was too common of a phrase to be able to get a trademark
for it (think about how many albums already have titles that include
the phrase "The Best"). Anyway, we'd like to see their paperwork if
there is any. There are a handful of bands on Myspace called "The
Best." We know because we'd made friends with a couple of them. We
would never have dreamed of trying to shut down any of them even though
we're pretty confident that we're the most well known "The Best" out
there, certainly in the NYC Scene. Again, our biggest concern is that
another group or individual out there might be using our identity/music
illegally."

Then I proceeded to do a search on Myspace and send a friend request to
every band called "The Best" on Myspace, noting that the one Georgia
based heavy metal band we were previously friends with is no longer in
existance. I suspect there's an evil Best out there wreaking havoc on
Bests everywhere.

[Jim Iseman III]

This makes me rather uncomfortable....

Especially having a conversation like this over email...

If we have indeed infringed on someone's trademark, and we have written correspondence indicating that we performed infringing acts, that shit can totally be used against us.  Our defense will be drasitcally limited by the statements we have written.

[tdtd]

I find it highly disconcerting that this correspondence even has to
take place at all. And since we most likely will be using our "real
life experience" of this correspondence for our "Reality Rock Show,"
why should it matter if we make our case well and with competence?
Mostly I'm really affected by the fact that there are a NUMBER of other
bands named "The Best" which is, as we researched, NOT trademarked nor
can it be because of the commonality of the phrase. I wonder if, as an
artist named "Janelle," anyone else named "Janelle" is not allowed to
use the same name to become rich and famous? I mean, shouldn't my
mother have thought about that before she named me? Imagine all those
actors in Equity that need to change their given name because someone
else is named, "Joe Schmoe" under the Equity archives.
All in all, I think it sucks.

[Jim Iseman III]

It's there for a reason.

What if instead of "TheBest," our show was called "Interpol" or "U2" or "The Pink Floyd Reunion..." I ASSUME that the law offers some provision to make illegal the use of another's name for personal profit.... The big questions for me are:

 

A) Intent: Does the intent of the use of the name matter in the eyes of the law?

     We obviously didn't use "TheBest" with any sort of malicious intent

     In fact, the name "TheBest" has intrinsic and special meaning to the show.

 

B) TheBest is not a band and never has been a band.  It is a unique work of

     performance art.  It is an avant-garde theatrical experience.  In fact, the band has 

     a completely separate name.
 

This also isn't about making our case "well and with competence," it's about making a case at all...it's about recording internal statements that could be construed as fact, even though in fact...I'm not even discussing laws of the United States.... I'm talking about fairness in THE WORLD OF THE BEST.

 

I am not Jim Iseman

I am Fifi

Who is The Operator

 

Jim Iseman did not write that....Fifi did....who is The Operator.

 

This is a great script for a play, no?
 

[thecar...@bellyofthebest.com]

Aren't these two different names, though? "The Best" and "TheBest"?
TheBest fits us better anyway. Have we looked into trademarking that
one word with that capitalization?

[tdtd]

I worry about doing such a thing. There are three other groups on
MySpace with "TheBest" as their name. One imparticular has "TheBEST"
as their name. I think it's a FINE idea to go ahead and do whatever we
can to protect ourselves legally from here on out. Fifi, can you do
this? Is it possible? Can you find out?

[P]

Alright, here's what I've found out googling. Bands protect their
names by getting Service Marks, for providing a service playing out.
You can go to libraries in major metropolitan areas (Performing Arts
Library) and ask the librarian to help you do a Trade Mark search and a
Service Mark search. They are based on territory so we should have no
problem if a Californian band has already Service Marked "The Best" or
"TheBest" If there is a dispute with a NY band, it will be resolved
based on priority - meaning, if we can demonstrate that we've been
playing out using our name longer than the other "The Best" than we
have a right to continue using our name. A state Service Mark only
costs about a 100 bucks and can be obtained through the Secretary of
State. But we should do a search first. Most of this info is from
here:
http://www.music-law.com/bandname.html

[tdtd]

OK, so who's going to go to the Performing Arts Library and do this leg
work? I've got the $100 for the Service Mark.