Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Is This Copyright Infringement?

A business name cannot be copyrighted, but it can be trademarked. Since the word you and the magazine both use is generic I don't see any merit to a claim that your business name infringes theirs.

A company's logo and other visual schemes can also be trademarked. Do you have advertisements, catalogues, logos, etc. that resemble the magazine's? Regardless of the name of your business such materials can get you into trouble -- especially if it seems you are deliberately trying to capitalize on the magazine's goodwill.

If the magazine really claims you are violating its copyright, it could mean that you have reproduced some content from its pages. Here again, the claim would have nothing to do with the name of your business but might still be quite strong.

Re: Is This Copyright Infringement?

From what you said, it's not a copyright violation but an alleged trademark violation, and a bogus one at that. I would ignore their phone call and, if you get a lawyer letter threatening a lawsuit, then call a lawyer and have him or her write a lawyer letter in return, threatening a counter-lawsuit.

Re: Is This Copyright Infringement?

A single word cannot be copyrighted. Copyright is protection for authors and artists of works of creativity that have been rendered in a permanent form such as a book, painting, sculpture, photograph, musical notation, etc.

The caller may have meant to allege a trademark violation. It is sometimes possible to obtain a trademark for the use of a single dictionary word such as 'dwell,' but the copyright would be limited to the use of the word in particular, distinctive display, such as an unusual typeface and/or colors, and then only for a particular product type, in this case a periodical.

The chance that you would be sued for your present or even your future use of your name is fairly remote, and the chance that the magazine would win is almost zero, given the facts.

Re: Is This Copyright Infringement?

Probably not. But you need to respond to their threat letter with a vigorous defense and tell them to 'buzz off'. There are always a lot of factors, such as who used the name first, how much it confuses people, etc. Talk to an attorney and have him write the letter, you won't gain any credibility doing it yourself. Feel free to contact me if interested.