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Thread started 12/07/10 5:22pm

TchoFessio

Legal question & also general opinion

i've bought a new bar in france and am trying to find a name for this bar. I don't want to have a theme bar but i am toying with the name 'Starfish and Coffee' My bar is 100 metres from the beach so it sort of makes sense. Also my other half's name is Cynthia.

a)If i call my bar this, what are the legal issues if any?

b)What do you guys think?

sorry if its the wrong forum

tcho

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Reply #1 posted 12/07/10 5:24pm

crazydoctor

Bad idea. Not worth the risk.

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Reply #2 posted 12/07/10 6:35pm

Red

There are other ventures out there with the name Starfish and/& Coffee (Photography, Restaurant etc). I really don't think anyone can touch you legally, plus you may like a variation like Starfish N' Coffee. there are a zillion restaurants out there named after songs - Alice's Restaurant, Ruby Tuesday, Louie Louie etc. etc. What about ESTERIE et CAFE?

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Reply #3 posted 12/07/10 7:01pm

sro100

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I don't believe titles are copyright; for example, in Hollywood there can be several different films that have nothing in common but share the same title and of course there are many, many songs that simply share the same title.

[Edited 12/7/10 19:02pm]

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Reply #4 posted 12/07/10 7:15pm

OnlyNDaUsa

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you should be fine, unless he had it trademarked. Unless prince had a restaurant/bar with that name, in that state, he would not be able to do anything. And it is not an iconic song.

"Keep on shilling for Big Pharm!"
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Reply #5 posted 12/07/10 7:50pm

purplethunder3
121

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Red said:

There are other ventures out there with the name Starfish and/& Coffee (Photography, Restaurant etc). I really don't think anyone can touch you legally, plus you may like a variation like Starfish N' Coffee. there are a zillion restaurants out there named after songs - Alice's Restaurant, Ruby Tuesday, Louie Louie etc. etc. What about ESTERIE et CAFE?

^^^This is a good one...plus the change would protect you against any legal repurcussions...

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #6 posted 12/07/10 8:46pm

Huggiebear

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Keep it French and he won't touch you, how about

"Le Starfish a la Cafe"

But paint your banners purple and put a rose and an iverted Prince sign and we all know where to come to. Play Prince on your hi fi and you can't go wrong.

So what are u going 2 do? R u just gonna sit there and watch? I'm not gonna stop until the war is over. Its gonna take a long time
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Reply #7 posted 12/07/10 10:34pm

deepabove

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Bad idea. Someone made a "cheeseburger in paradise" restaurant and was sued. Someone else started a Margaritaville and was sued. Yet another entity had cheeburgercheeburger (like the old SNL skit) and was sued. ((Yes, there are currently restaurants called c.i.p. and margaritaville, but Jimmy Buffet is involved.)

open yo mind, the entire universe you'll find
~love
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Reply #8 posted 12/07/10 11:07pm

Jakeasaurus

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Not to mention the fact that it's a stupid name.

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Reply #9 posted 12/08/10 1:51am

TheDigitalGard
ener

If you are 100 meters from the beach, your customers will be singing "sand in my coffee."

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Reply #10 posted 12/08/10 4:30am

OnlyNDaUsa

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deepabove said:

Bad idea. Someone made a "cheeseburger in paradise" restaurant and was sued. Someone else started a Margaritaville and was sued. Yet another entity had cheeburgercheeburger (like the old SNL skit) and was sued. ((Yes, there are currently restaurants called c.i.p. and margaritaville, but Jimmy Buffet is involved.)

the "cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburge, no coke Pepsi" skit was based on a real place.

"Keep on shilling for Big Pharm!"
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Reply #11 posted 12/08/10 5:08am

LORILA

TchoFessio said:

i've bought a new bar in france and am trying to find a name for this bar. I don't want to have a theme bar but i am toying with the name 'Starfish and Coffee' My bar is 100 metres from the beach so it sort of makes sense. Also my other half's name is Cynthia.

a)If i call my bar this, what are the legal issues if any?

b)What do you guys think?

sorry if its the wrong forum

tcho

i heard SEVEN and i say yes , but ALL TOGETHER

gyc

i can move only in frame of my ability

therefor works, rl,tL

mdf

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Reply #12 posted 12/08/10 7:07am

CallMeCarrie

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I don't know about the legality, but I like the name.

If I was in France and saw it, I would totally check it out!

(Uh - I think I just increased my fammy-ness)

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Reply #13 posted 12/08/10 7:30am

Genesia

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You should have just gone ahead and named it that - he'd never have known. shrug

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #14 posted 12/08/10 7:31am

RodeoSchro

LORILA said:

TchoFessio said:

i've bought a new bar in france and am trying to find a name for this bar. I don't want to have a theme bar but i am toying with the name 'Starfish and Coffee' My bar is 100 metres from the beach so it sort of makes sense. Also my other half's name is Cynthia.

a)If i call my bar this, what are the legal issues if any?

b)What do you guys think?

sorry if its the wrong forum

tcho

i heard SEVEN and i say yes , but ALL TOGETHER

gyc

i can move only in frame of my ability

therefor works, rl,tL

mdf

WTF

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Reply #15 posted 12/08/10 12:42pm

DaphneLovesPR1
NCE

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I asked my sister this (she's a paralegal) and she said as long as this name isn't trademarked (which I seriously doubt it is, who tradesmarks a song as insignificant as this one was?) then you're cool. The only way you could possibly get sued is if you made it come across as a Prince establisment...like you put "Prince's Starfish and Coffee" or if you had a bunch of pics of his hanging up, and only his music was played. But just using Starfish and coffee as a name is totally fine and legal, those are just words...

Prince is GORGEOUS. I'm inspired. GOD is GREAT. Is there anything else to say? lol
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Reply #16 posted 12/08/10 12:55pm

Spinlight

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DaphneLovesPR1NCE said:

I asked my sister this (she's a paralegal) and she said as long as this name isn't trademarked (which I seriously doubt it is, who tradesmarks a song as insignificant as this one was?) then you're cool. The only way you could possibly get sued is if you made it come across as a Prince establisment...like you put "Prince's Starfish and Coffee" or if you had a bunch of pics of his hanging up, and only his music was played. But just using Starfish and coffee as a name is totally fine and legal, those are just words...

Girl, you need to take your vitamins cuz you are losing your mind. What do you mean "insignificant"? "Starfish and Coffee" is one of his most popular songs amongst fans on one of his most popular and critically acclaimed albums. We'll not even bring up the artistic merit of the work on this composition. And furthermore, for all you or anyone else knows, Starfish and Coffee is Prince's motherfuckin jam and he bumps it constantly. We already know he favors the track greatly as he's re-recorded it in the studio a few times.

As far as the original post, it ain't a copyright if it isn't copyrighted. You can look up all of Prince's copyrights and trademarks on web services which provide this information, so have at it! My personal opinion? Ditch the idea as it's corny as all hell. Cynthia (both your partner and the retarded girl) will thank you. (Not in this lifetime, but..)

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Reply #17 posted 12/09/10 5:39pm

Jakeasaurus

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Spinlight said:

DaphneLovesPR1NCE said:

I asked my sister this (she's a paralegal) and she said as long as this name isn't trademarked (which I seriously doubt it is, who tradesmarks a song as insignificant as this one was?) then you're cool. The only way you could possibly get sued is if you made it come across as a Prince establisment...like you put "Prince's Starfish and Coffee" or if you had a bunch of pics of his hanging up, and only his music was played. But just using Starfish and coffee as a name is totally fine and legal, those are just words...

Girl, you need to take your vitamins cuz you are losing your mind. What do you mean "insignificant"? "Starfish and Coffee" is one of his most popular songs amongst fans on one of his most popular and critically acclaimed albums. We'll not even bring up the artistic merit of the work on this composition. And furthermore, for all you or anyone else knows, Starfish and Coffee is Prince's motherfuckin jam and he bumps it constantly. We already know he favors the track greatly as he's re-recorded it in the studio a few times.

As far as the original post, it ain't a copyright if it isn't copyrighted. You can look up all of Prince's copyrights and trademarks on web services which provide this information, so have at it! My personal opinion? Ditch the idea as it's corny as all hell. Cynthia (both your partner and the retarded girl) will thank you. (Not in this lifetime, but..)

u mad bro?

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Reply #18 posted 12/09/10 7:40pm

ufoclub

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It's true that you can't copyright a title of a movie... and probably not a song either judging from how many songs have the same title...

Jimmy Buffet was trademarking his establishements, so that's why that was easily contested.

look at this:

http://www.accesshollywood.com/glam-slam

or this

http://www.alphabetstreet.com.au/index.html

or this:

http://books.google.com/books?id=9sK0lAlB4XkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=sign+o+the+times&source=bl&ots=w8lMBXE6vK&sig=1D0u62vwAu5WN7n5Kt-TABt6kNI&hl=en&ei=H6EBTeVcwvnwBsCIkPcC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CHcQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q&f=false

but I'm no lawyer!

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Reply #19 posted 12/09/10 7:44pm

mrsquirrel

if it gets the Kellogs seal of approval it's a winner

Cx

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Reply #20 posted 12/09/10 7:53pm

ZombieKitten

There is a cafe near where I live called "Dweezil, the Other Zappa" falloff

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Reply #21 posted 12/10/10 1:04pm

Tremolina

I am not giving you any legal advice but I wouldn't worry about it, altho' you mentioning it on the org is kinda asking for trouble knowing prince's reputation to happily send cease and desist letters around... lol

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Reply #22 posted 12/12/10 12:59pm

TchoFessio

DaphneLovesPR1NCE said:

I asked my sister this (she's a paralegal) and she said as long as this name isn't trademarked (which I seriously doubt it is, who tradesmarks a song as insignificant as this one was?) then you're cool. The only way you could possibly get sued is if you made it come across as a Prince establisment...like you put "Prince's Starfish and Coffee" or if you had a bunch of pics of his hanging up, and only his music was played. But just using Starfish and coffee as a name is totally fine and legal, those are just words...

thankyou!

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Reply #23 posted 12/12/10 1:20pm

DaphneLovesPR1
NCE

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Spinlight said:

DaphneLovesPR1NCE said:

I asked my sister this (she's a paralegal) and she said as long as this name isn't trademarked (which I seriously doubt it is, who tradesmarks a song as insignificant as this one was?) then you're cool. The only way you could possibly get sued is if you made it come across as a Prince establisment...like you put "Prince's Starfish and Coffee" or if you had a bunch of pics of his hanging up, and only his music was played. But just using Starfish and coffee as a name is totally fine and legal, those are just words...

Girl, you need to take your vitamins cuz you are losing your mind. What do you mean "insignificant"? "Starfish and Coffee" is one of his most popular songs amongst fans on one of his most popular and critically acclaimed albums. We'll not even bring up the artistic merit of the work on this composition. And furthermore, for all you or anyone else knows, Starfish and Coffee is Prince's motherfuckin jam and he bumps it constantly. We already know he favors the track greatly as he's re-recorded it in the studio a few times.

As far as the original post, it ain't a copyright if it isn't copyrighted. You can look up all of Prince's copyrights and trademarks on web services which provide this information, so have at it! My personal opinion? Ditch the idea as it's corny as all hell. Cynthia (both your partner and the retarded girl) will thank you. (Not in this lifetime, but..)

Enough said there....a song loved by diehard fans, not the general public, off of a poor saleing album. My original thoughts still stand...the song in both Princeland (as I recall it didn't make the top 20, and probably wouldn't crack the top 50 on most fans lists) and the real world is insignificant! I personally love the track, but it wouldn't make it in my top 20 either.

Prince is GORGEOUS. I'm inspired. GOD is GREAT. Is there anything else to say? lol
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Reply #24 posted 12/12/10 1:21pm

vman4639

Spinlight said:

Cynthia (both your partner and the retarded girl) will thank you. (Not in this lifetime, but..)

You can make a strong point / have an edge / whatever, without having to be insulting to a disabled child. It actually reduces the affect of your post.

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