Trademark Terminations: A Lesson from the Music Industry?

Abstract

This article explores the potential application of the Copyright Act’s termination provisions to trademark law and ownership. In particular, it suggests that the Copyright Act provisions being invoked by song writers and musicians to terminate the transfer of their music rights to record companies might be relied upon by freelance graphic designers to recover rights to now famous logos that they created decades ago for brand owners. Using examples such as the Nike swoosh and the logo of the Baltimore Ravens, the article shows how overlapping trademark and copyright claims might become so entangled with respect to a single logo that termination of a copyright grant could effectively preclude use of the trademark for all purposes.

Keywords: Trademark, trademark law, copyright, copyright law, termination, logo, graphic design, works made for hire, works for hire, Nike, swoosh