talkmagic.co.uk

As some of you may be aware I've taken an interest in certain aspects of law. I started a couple of threads which turned out to be controversial, to my surprise, and those threads got locked.

I'm hoping that people will find this area of law somewhat less controversial and perhaps even useful.

While engaged in commerce it is important to have some layers of protection. One thing that we might feel the need to protect is our Trade Mark/Trade Name, especially if we rely on that trade name for business and I think it's safe to assume that that includes most, if not all, of us. We can do that by copyrighting our name using common law copyright.

Here is my common law copyright notice.

NOTE: The strange square shapes next to my name are trademark symbols (TM) which the forum doesn't seem to want to display!

Common Law Copyright Notice

Common Law Copyright Notice GD-05031990-CN

Copyright Notice: All rights reserved re common-law copyright of trade-name/trade-mark, GARY DICKSON (“Debtor”), as well as any and all derivatives and variations in the spelling of said trade-name/trade-mark – Common Law Copyright 1990 – 3000 Gary: dickson. Said common-law trade-name/trade-mark, GARY DICKSON (and any and all derivatives thereof), may neither be used, nor reproduced, neither in whole nor in part, nor in any manner whatsoever, without the prior, express, written consent and acknowledgment of Gary: dickson, as signified by the red ink signature of Gary:dickson, hereinafter “Secured Party”.

With the intent of being contractually bound, any juristic person, as well as the agent of said juristic person, consents and agrees by this Copyright Notice that neither said juristic person, nor the agent of said juristic person, shall display, nor otherwise use in any manner, the common-law trade-name/trade-mark GARY DICKSON (and any and all derivatives thereof), nor the common-law copyright described herein, nor any derivative of, nor any variation in the spelling of, GARY DICKSON (and any and all derivatives thereof) without the prior, express, written consent and acknowledgment of Secured Party, as signified by Secured Party's signature in red ink. Secured Party neither grants, nor implies, nor otherwise gives consent for any unauthorised use of GARY DICKSON (and any and all derivatives thereof), and all such unauthorised use is strictly prohibited.

Secured Party is not now, nor has ever been, an accommodation party, nor a surety for Debtor, i.e. GARY DICKSON (and all derivatives thereof), nor for any variation in spelling of said name, nor for any other juristic person, and is so indemnified and held harmless by Debtor, i.e. GARY DICKSON (and all derivatives thereof), in “Hold Harmless & Indemnity Agreement GD-05031990-HHIA” dated the 6th day of the month of March in the year two thousand and ten CE, against any and all claims, legal actions, orders, warrants, judgments, demands, liabilities, losses, depositions, summonses, lawsuits, costs, fines, liens, levies, penalties, damages, interests and expenses whatsoever, both absolute and contingent, as are due and as might become due, now existing and as might hereafter arise, and as might be suffered by, imposed upon, and incurred by Debtor for any and every reason, purpose and/or cause whatsoever.

Take note also that Common Law Copyright is claimed by Secured Party over, including, but not restricted or limited to, all means of personal identification of Debtor defined as; all fingerprints, footprints, palm prints, thumb-prints, hand-prints, toe-prints, RNA materials, DNA materials, blood and blood fractions, biopsies, surgically removed tissue, body parts, organs, hair, teeth, nails, semen, urine, faeces, excrement, other body fluids and matter of any kind, and breath samples, voice-print, retinal image, and the description thereof, and all other corporeal identification factors, and said factors physical counterparts, and any and all body tissues of any kind, in any form, and all records and record numbers, including the results, recorded or otherwise, of all and any tests performed on any material relating to Debtor, and information pertaining thereto, and any visual image, photographic or electronic, notwithstanding any and all claims to the contrary. In addition, Secured Party retains absolute control and mastery over the property of his body, mind and mental faculties to the extent that no medications, foods or otherwise may be administered to him without his express consent in written form, using red ink, and freely given in full formal consent.

Self-executing Security Agreement in Event of Unauthorised Use: By this Copyright Notice, both the juristic person and the agent of said juristic person, hereinafter jointly and severally “user”, consent and agree that any use of GARY DICKSON (and all derivatives thereof), other than authorised use as set forth above constitutes unauthorised use and counterfeiting of Secured Party's common-law copyrighted property, which contractually binds User, and renders this Copyright Notice a Security Agreement, wherein User is Debtor and Gary: dickson is Secured Party, and signifies that User:

(1)Grants Secured Party a security interest in all User's assets, land, and personal property, and all of Users interest in assets, land and personal property, in the sum certain amount of GBP£1,000,000.00 (One Million Great British Pounds) per occurrence of use of the common-law-copyrighted trade-name/trade-mark GARY DICKSON, as well as for each and every occurrence of use of any and all derivatives of, and variations in the spelling of, GARY DICKSON,, plus costs, plus triple damages.
(2)Authenticates this Security Agreement wherein User is Debtor and Gary: dickson is Secured Party, and wherein User pledges all of User's assets, land, consumer goods, farm products, inventory, equipment, money, investment property, commercial tort claims, letter-of-credit rights, chattel paper, instruments, deposit accounts, accounts, documents, and general intangibles, as well as all User's interest in all such foregoing property, now owned and hereafter acquired, now existing and hereafter arising, and wherever located, as collateral for securing User's contractual obligation in favour of Secured Party, for User's unauthorised use of Secured Party's common-law-copyrighted property.
(3)Consents and agrees with Secured Party's filing of a UCC Financing Statement in the UCC filing office, as well as in any county recorder's office, wherein User is debtor and Gary: dickson is Secured Party.
(4)Consents and agrees that said UCC Financing Statement described above in paragraph “(3)” is a continuing financing statement, and further consents and agrees with Secured Party's filing of any continuation statement necessary for maintaining Secured Party's perfected security interest in all of User's property and interest in property, pledged as collateral in this Security Agreement and described above in paragraph “(2)”, until User's contractual obligation theretofore incurred has been fully satisfied.
(5)Consents and agrees with Secured Party's filing of any UCC Financing Statement, as described above in paragraph's “(3)” and “(4)”, as well as the filing of any Security Agreement, as described above in paragraph “(2)”, in the UCC filing office, as well as in any county recorder's office.
(6)Consents and agrees that any and all such filings described in paragraphs “(4)” and “(5)” above are not, and may not be considered, bogus, and that User will not claim that any such filing is bogus.
(7)Waives all defences.
(8)Appoints Secured Party as Authorised Representative for User, effective upon User's default re User's contractual obligations in favour of Secured Party as set forth below under “Payment Terms” and “Default Terms”, granting Secured Party full authorisation and power for engaging in any and all actions on behalf of User including, but not limited by, authentication of a record on behalf of User, as Secured Party, at Secured Party's sole discretion, deems appropriate, and User further consents and agrees that this appointment of Secured Party as Authorised Representative for User, effective upon User's default, is irrevocable and coupled with a security interest. User further consents and agrees with all of the following additional terms of Self-executing Security Agreement in Event of Unauthorised Use.

Payment Terms

In accordance with fees for unauthorised use of GARY DICKSON (and all derivatives thereof) as set forth above, User hereby consents and agrees that User shall pay Secured Party all unauthorised-use fees in full within ten (10) days of date invoice is sent Secured Party's invoice, hereinafter “Invoice”, itemising said fees.
Default Terms

In the event of non-payment in full of all unauthorised-use fees by User within ten (10) days of date Invoice is sent, User shall be deemed in default and:

(i)All of User's property and property pledged as collateral by User, as set forth above in paragraph “(2)”, immediately becomes, i.e. Is, property of Secured Party.
(ii)Secured Party is appointed User's Authorised Representative as set forth above in “(8)”.
(iii)User consents and agrees that Secured Party may take possession of, as well as otherwise dispose of in any manner that Secured Party, at Sole Party's sole discretion, deems appropriate, including, but not limited by, sale at auction, at any time, following User's default, and without further notice, any and all of User's property and interest, described above in paragraph “(2)”, formerly pledged as collateral by User, now property of Secured Party', in respect of this “Self-executing Security Agreement in Event of Unauthorised Use”, that Secured Party, again at Secured Party's sole discretion, deems appropriate.

Terms for Curing Default

Upon event of default, as set forth above under “Default Terms”, irrespective of any and all of User's former property and interest in property, described above in paragraph “(2)”, in the possession of, as well as disposed of by, Secured Party, as authorised under “Default Terms”, User may cure User's default only re the remainder of User's said former property and interest property, formerly pledged as collateral that is neither in the possession of, nor otherwise disposed of by, Secured Party within twenty (20) days of date of User's default only by payment in full.

Terms of Strict Foreclosure

User's non-payment in full of all unauthorised-use fees itemised in invoice within said twenty (20) day period for curing defaults as set forth under “Terms for Curing Default” authorises Secured Party's immediate non-judicial strict foreclosure on any and all remaining former property and interest in property, formerly pledged as collateral by User, now property of Secured Party, which is not in the possession of, nor otherwise disposed of by, Secured Party, upon expiration of said twenty (20) day default-curing period.

Ownership subject to common-law copyright and UCC Financing Statement and Security Agreement filed with the UCC filing office Record owner: Gary: dickson, Common Law Copyright 1990-3000. Unauthorised use of “Gary: dickson” incurs same unauthorised-use fees as those associated with GARY DICKSON (and all derivatives thereof), as set forth above in paragraph “(1)” under “Self-executing Security Agreement in Event of Unauthorised Use.”

This Copyright Notice includes any and all business names owned by GARY DICKSON (and all derivatives thereof).


Autograph & Seal By: Secured Party Creditor____________________________________
Without Prejudice – Without Recourse – Non-Assumpsit
All Rights Reserved – Errors & Omissions Excepted


Dated: ____ Day of ______________,






Witness' Autograph & Seal:___________________________________







Witness' Autograph & Seal:___________________________________







Witness' Autograph & Seal:___________________________________[/b]

I'm sceptical, for three reasons:

No amount of legalese can stop anyone else from having and using the name Gary Dickson.

If anyone is actually passing themselves off as you, you have other legal remedies.

And you can't copyright a name.

Gary, are you aware that if you are issuing invoices then it is not your place to dictate payment terms? It is that of the customer.

Just want to throw a little finance/legal arguement in there

Lawrence wrote:Gary, are you aware that if you are issuing invoices then it is not your place to dictate payment terms? It is that of the customer.

Just want to throw a little finance/legal arguement in there

Indeed. Check out magazine publishing for a good example. Writing "TERMS: STRICTLY 30 DAYS" on my invoices has no effect if the agreement I signed with the publisher says "payment on publication". I have stuff that's been bumped from last summer that I can't yet collect on because of that.

I'm sceptical, for three reasons:

No amount of legalese can stop anyone else from having and using the name Gary Dickson.

If anyone is actually passing themselves off as you, you have other legal remedies.

And you can't copyright a name.

Obviously, I wouldn't serve this notice on someone who has the same name as me! It's not really about someone passing themselves off as me, but using/displaying the trade-mark/trade-name without permission.

If I can't copyright the name, do you of a way I could achieve something similar, i.e., protect the trade-name/trade-mark? As stated in other threads, I'm not an expert (by any stretch of the imagination!) and I am sort of fumbling around in the dark trying to find illumination in education. Also, I'm not just copyrighting the name but all DNA, RNA, blood, urine, etc. I've got a friend who's much more knowledgable than me when it comes to law - I'll ask his advice and get back to you with what he says.

@ Lawrence & Tomo: I didn't know that. I may be wrong, but I think Notices work differently to invoices. After all, if we receive a Notice of Default Sums from a creditor don't they normally state that payment has to be made within a certain time?

Gary Dickson wrote:Obviously, I wouldn't serve this notice on someone who has the same name as me! It's not really about someone passing themselves off as me, but using/displaying the trade-mark/trade-name without permission.

But that's the point, isn't it? Why would you care, unless someone is passing himself off as you? And anybody else named Gary Dickson has every right to use and display the name as he sees fit.

I'm reminded of the case a couple of years ago when McDonald's tried to sue somebody running "McDonald's Corner Shop". The fast-food chain got thoroughly slapped in the courts when it was proven that the shop owner's name was indeed McDonald and he was doing nothing that might confuse people into thinking he was a burger joint.

Gary Dickson wrote:If I can't copyright the name, do you of a way I could achieve something similar, i.e., protect the trade-name/trade-mark? As stated in other threads, I'm not an expert (by any stretch of the imagination!) and I am sort of fumbling around in the dark trying to find illumination in education. Also, I'm not just copyrighting the name but all DNA, RNA, blood, urine, etc. I've got a friend who's much more knowledgable than me when it comes to law - I'll ask his advice and get back to you with what he says.

You can't copyright biological substances, either. Copyright is only for protection of original creative works, such as writing or music. It's well established in law that names don't contain enough originality to be copyrighted.

It might just be legally possible to trademark your name, if you hire a red-hot lawyer to argue the case. You could probably trademark a specific graphic treatment of your name. But I don't see the point even if it's possible. You still wouldn't be able to stop other Gary Dicksons from using the name. And, as I said, there are plenty of other legal remedies against anyone trying to pass themselves off as you, either personally or as a business.

You might want to stop and ask yourself why you even want to do all this.

Anyway. Anyone watch the footie?

Gary Dickson wrote:@ Lawrence & Tomo: I didn't know that. I may be wrong, but I think Notices work differently to invoices. After all, if we receive a Notice of Default Sums from a creditor don't they normally state that payment has to be made within a certain time?

Yes, they work differently. I'm a reasonable person, but not paying me is a mortal sin. If I get a bad payer, I first give them a chance to cough up what they can when they can. In the meantime, I stop writing for them (NUJ guidelines - not that I'm a member). If I get nothing, I explain that I'll be filing papers in the county court if nothing happens over the debt. If that doesn't work, I file the damned papers. The defendant has 28 days from the Notice being issued before a CCJ is entered. I've only had to go to step 3 once, but the mag went bust and I lost a few hundred. Gallingly, it opened again after clearing its debts with the same people at the damned helm.

LU&D - best avoided.

Out of interest...did you write it yourself? Wondering where all this pseudo-legal stuff is coming from. Does someone get paid to write it?

IP law isn't really my thing, but Robbie's got it spot on. You could maybe copyright a performing name, but not your actual name, and tbh, I can't think of any reason why you would want to. Same with DNA etc, it isn' subject to copyright, but why would you want it to be?

Copyright applies to creative works, which probably includes routines/patter once it's in a physical form. As soon as something which qualifies is out of your mind and onto paper/film/whatever, it's protected by copyright. It's an automatic process, no need for fancy copyright notices.

The only issue could be proof, which is often overcome by posting a copy to yourself via registered post and then keeping it unopened (poor man's copyright). This means that if someone copies your work, you can prove that you did indeed create it at that time.

As I say, it's not an area of law that I specialise in, but it's not as scary as it looks...

Tomo wrote:

Lawrence wrote:Gary, are you aware that if you are issuing invoices then it is not your place to dictate payment terms? It is that of the customer.

Just want to throw a little finance/legal arguement in there

Indeed. Check out magazine publishing for a good example. Writing "TERMS: STRICTLY 30 DAYS" on my invoices has no effect if the agreement I signed with the publisher says "payment on publication". I have stuff that's been bumped from last summer that I can't yet collect on because of that.

I'm forever having the conversation...

Supplier: Why haven't you paid my invoice?
Me: it's not due for another 2 weeks
S: our payment terms at net 30 days* it was due 2 weeks ago
M: our terms are 60
S: ours are 30
M: check the purchase order terms and conditions, our terms are 60
S: ours are 30
M: ours are 60....

*no one ever really knows what "net" 30 days really means

Gary, I can't help but feel that this is taking you in a different direction to your Buddhism? I mean really, who gives a sh*t?! Does it improve your life and the lives of those around you to know that you've made some wordy legal statement that will frankly never make a jot difference to anything that happens in the real world?

Not being accusatory here, I'm just wondering!

themagicwand wrote:Anyway. Anyone watch the footie?

No, how'd it turn out in the end?

Why would you want to copy right your name? Sounds a bit silly.

Mandrake wrote: No, how'd it turn out in the end?

Fulham won.