Basing a Band Name on a Movie Title

I am a musician, and instead of using my real name I use the name 'Aristacatte' as my artist title, similar to how Skrillex and Deadmau5 made up their own artist names instead of using their real names. Am I infringing any copyrights by using this title? My name is inspired by my favourite Disney movie, "The Aristocats," but I'm not sure if that is okay. This might sound silly, but I don't want to get sued by Disney or anyone else down the line if I actually do become popular because I infringed the copyrights of the movie "The Aristocats." I changed the spelling to make it more unique to me, but is that enough? I have actually seen a registered animal care program called 'Aristocat' with the same spelling as the movie. I also looked the name up with the original spelling and with the way I spelled it, and there are no other musicians out there with that name, so would it be okay for me to use this title? I am releasing an album in a few months, so I want to make sure it's legal before I slap that name on my album cover.

Titles and names are not protected by copyright. There may be trademarks involved however. Disney is rather fierce at protecting their trademarks. However since you're using a single word that would appear not to be likely to be confused (I'd avoid promoting that the name is related to Disney's). Tweaking spelling isn't generally enough to avoid confusion.

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Quoting qwertyqueen

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I am a musician, and instead of using my real name I use the name 'Aristacatte' as my artist title, similar to how Skrillex and Deadmau5 made up their own artist names instead of using their real names. Am I infringing any copyrights by using this title? My name is inspired by my favourite Disney movie, "The Aristocats," but I'm not sure if that is okay. This might sound silly, but I don't want to get sued by Disney or anyone else down the line if I actually do become popular because I infringed the copyrights of the movie "The Aristocats." I changed the spelling to make it more unique to me, but is that enough? I have actually seen a registered animal care program called 'Aristocat' with the same spelling as the movie. I also looked the name up with the original spelling and with the way I spelled it, and there are no other musicians out there with that name, so would it be okay for me to use this title? I am releasing an album in a few months, so I want to make sure it's legal before I slap that name on my album cover.

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Aristo/a with something unique attached would be difficult to prove as a trademark infringement. Aristo/a has been used by hundreds, maybe thousands of companies through the years...even before Disney did the Aristocats. I cannot imagine a compelling argument that someone could confuse Aristacatte, with Disney's The Aristocats.

However, by all means get a consult with a trademark attorney before you finalize your plans.

Given Disney had an issue with deadmau5's latest trademark registration I would not be surprised to see them take issue with your stage name. Disney's argument was deadmau5's mouse head image was too similar to their Mickey Mouse silhouette.

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Quoting flyingron

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Titles and names are not protected by copyright. There may be trademarks involved however. Disney is rather fierce at protecting their trademarks. However since you're using a single word that would appear not to be likely to be confused (I'd avoid promoting that the name is related to Disney's). Tweaking spelling isn't generally enough to avoid confusion.

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Given JK's reference to deadmau5's Disney trademark, your cat silhouette on your facebook page might be the nail in your coffin, when combined with the name:

https://www.facebook.com/music.aristacatte

The running cats on your youtube page look less infringing but you might want to do away the cat designs altogether just to stay under the radar.

Meantime, I don't think there's an issue with the name itself. You appear to have been around for a few years. If you haven't been jumped on by now, you might be OK.

On the other hand, calling attention to yourself on a public website might not have been the best idea.

Do you think it would be okay if I got rid of any cat-related images that represent myself, but just kept the name? I personally don't see what is wrong with that, since I am not representing Disney in any way except for the pronunciation of the name (the spelling isn't even the same).

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Quoting qwertyqueen

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Do you think it would be okay if I got rid of any cat-related images that represent myself, but just kept the name? I personally don't see what is wrong with that, since I am not representing Disney in any way except for the pronunciation of the name (the spelling isn't even the same).

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You don't have to be "representing" Disney nor do you have to actually be doing anything wrong or illegal to be sued. It's the lawsuit itself that puts you in the poorhouse because of lawyer fees even if you don't lose.

My advice for the two cents that it's worth: At least get rid of the upright cat silhouette.

This:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dhg59xbnRP.../s1600/cat.png

Looks a little too much like this:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...e93ea18654.jpg

You might not agree but you have to admit that you are likely emotionally attached to your design and might not be able to view it as objectively as I, and I'm the kind of person likely to sit on a jury.

Personally, though, I think you hit a home run with this design:

http://aristacatte.blogspot.com/p/aristacatte-art.html

Subtle, but incredibly appealing and demonstrative of what you are trying to convey. Just delete the cat from the top of the piano and nobody will know the difference.

:friendly_wink:

PS: I just listened to Ambivalence and Dark Side of the Mind. I like.

Alright, then I will just re-design my image to be something completely different; I'll get rid of anything "cat-like," including the paw prints on the website, the cat silhouette; I'll even take the ears and tail of the woman's silhouette. I'll use images completely different. Who knows, I might even alter my name or spelling slightly to make it more different. Would that still be enough for Disney to sue me? (assuming I actually became a known musician). Even if they did after all the changes I made, I don't think they would have enough to back them up.

P.S. Thanks for the effort you put in. I wasn't expecting anybody to look me up, let alone listen to my music.

I personally don't find your silhouette to be evocative of a Disney cat. The mouse costume used by deadmau5 has a silhouette that is very close to the Mickey silhouette, which is a trademark near and dear to Disney's heart. Still, as others have said, when it comes to Disney, "Better safe than sorry."

Concur with Mr. KIA. I'm not seeing anything evocative of Disney, but when it comes to the Mouse, you're best to cover yourself carefully. They are vicious and have LOTS of money.

I've bookmarked your music page. Finding Ambivalence great for bellydance. Nice work, you!

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Quoting qwertyqueen

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I'll even take the ears and tail of the woman's silhouette.

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I'm not sure you need to go that far since the ears and tail are very subtle but do add a certain something to the image.

It's actually more evocative of Julie Newmar's Catwoman than anything Disneyesque.

http://www.mechamelissa.com/wp-conte...r-catwoman.jpg

But I don't think you need to worry about DC Comics.

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Quoting qwertyqueen

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Who knows, I might even alter my name or spelling slightly to make it more different. Would that still be enough for Disney to sue me?

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Amateur opinion: I think you are OK with the name.

Besides, Aristacatte already gets a ton of hits online. You don't want to lose that.

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Quoting qwertyqueen

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(assuming I actually became a known musician).

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You already seem to be a known musician. And you certainly became more known today. :-)

But if you want to become even more well known I suggest putting yourself on IMDB and Wikipedia.

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Quoting qwertyqueen

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P.S. Thanks for the effort you put in. I wasn't expecting anybody to look me up, let alone listen to my music.

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I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

Thank you everyone :) I decided to completely get rid of any cat-related images to be safe, but I am still using the black and white silhouette scheme as my artwork since that has nothing to do with Disney. I'll keep my name the way it is, unless anyone has any objections and strongly believes it's too risky.

Mars hasn't been able to shut down Eminem. Just sayin'.

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Quoting qwertyqueen

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Thank you everyone :) I decided to completely get rid of any cat-related images to be safe, but I am still using the black and white silhouette scheme as my artwork since that has nothing to do with Disney. I'll keep my name the way it is, unless anyone has any objections and strongly believes it's too risky.

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Consider registering Aristacatte as a "service mark" with the US Patent and Trademark office.

See the following article, particularly the section about Registering Your Stage Name:

http://hiphopthinktank.ca/trademark-...ic-stage-name/

Then go to the USPTO website for more information:

http://www.uspto.gov/