Photographers, content providers, and Visual Artists – your brand, name, and image likely are assets worth protecting via a trademark registration.

For many photographers, visual artists, and other content creators, building a strong brand is just as important as the photographs, artwork, or other content they create.  Whether you work independently or work for someone else, your name, image, and brand are what set you apart.  With the overwhelming use of social media, streaming, and AI generated images, protecting your brand is essential to staying recognizable and unique.  Trademarks are a key piece of that protection.

Copyright vs. Trademark Protection

Photographers, visual artists, and other content creators (collectively, the “Creators”) benefit from two main types of legal protection: copyright and trademark.

Copyright law protects a Creators’ original photographs, illustrations, artwork, written works, and other forms of artistic expression (“Works”).  It prevents other people from copying or exploiting the copyright holder’s Works without the copyright holder’s permission and gives the copyright holder the right to monetize the Works by providing the copyright holder with the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and perform or display the created Work.   It is important to register the copyright in your Works promptly to ensure that you have all potential remedies available to you if someone infringes your Works.

Trademark law protects a Creators’ name and their brand and image associated with their name that customers and clients connect with.  A trademark can be a word, symbol, phrase, or a design that identifies the Creators’ Works or the Creators’ services performed when creating such Works, distinguishes them from the goods or services of others, and indicates the source of the Creators’ Works and related services ensuring that when people see your name, logo, or other identifying branding , they know it’s you.  You begin to have trademark rights in the geographic areas where you first start using your name, logo, or other identifying branding on or in connection with your Works or services performed in creating the Work

Registering a trademark in the United States Patent and Trademark Office provides additional protections including, it protects your trademark throughout the United States, gives others notice of your trademark rights and a legal presumption that you own the trademark, permits you to use the federal  trademark registration symbol ®, and will help protect your name and brand image from being misused or infringed on in a way that could cause confusion among your customers or clients, or weaken your brand’s distinctiveness.  In the U.S., trademark rights are governed by the Lanham Act, which allows trademark owners to take action against anyone using a trademark, name, or logo that is likely to cause confusion.  These laws help ensure that your audience is not misled and that your brand remains clearly associated with your Works.

Trademark searches are a necessary part of registering and owning trademarks, but many folks choose to put off trademark searching, viewing it as candidly, a pain in the butt that costs some money. Mistake! The nature and extent of that search varies from business to business.  In any event our office handles the search for you. A proper search is necessary (especially) if you conduct business in more than one state of the United States or have any desire to do so.  In short and among other things, you may have a legal action based on trademark infringement and/or copyright infringement.

If you have a brand or image that you want to protect, or any other question, simply contact Ed Greenberg or Josh Broitman to discuss your options at ecglaw@gmail.com