Whats In A Name?

When it comes to choosing that name for your stage persona, the stress is real. REAL I TELL YOU. Well not really for me. Back when I was called Morning Glory (yes…im not gonna explain why ha) I decided to change my name after a disastrous first performance on the real scene. I ended being named Khandie Khisses via a now defunct forum (back in the old days of the internet kiddos we spoke on forums). The spelling was never very clear and in hindsight probably I wouldnt have done it but hey ho. When it comes to your performance name it is a deeply personal and stressful choosing for most.

The burlesque scene is saturated. I mean it. It is everywhere and everyone is a burlesque performer with a name. With that level of saturation comes naming issues. Sure there are unofficial registers of names available be it in Facebook groups or even the wonderful Red Hot Annie has an online one http://www.redhotannie.com/resources/directory_of_burlesque_dancers.htm

These however are not legally recognised and are merely a ‘community role call register’. After going through the drama of choosing your burlesque name (a blog post coming on this soon) you gotta use it right? NO! You cant just ‘claim it’. SO SO SO many people out there are using stage names you gotta do your research, and do it well.

RESEARCH TIME

• Is your name similar to another performers? Example a few years ago I was made aware of a Candy Kiss who was up North somewhere. I am Khandie Khisses. Spelt differently but pronounced the same so this performer knocking the plural off doesnt really cut it. I am aware people pointed this out and as such the name has been reconsidered. Side note had they put Candy Kiss Burlesque my website would have come up so it was rather silly to choose that name firstly.
• Does the name belong to a past performer? There is still a respect notion and as such it is largely agreed that you cant use the name of a past performer. Even if they have long since departed.
• Does it contain a trademarked name?  now trademarking a name is a thing but I will come into that more later. What I mean is that you arent using a name that is another company’s property like perhaps Ferrari? I am aware of one drag artiste who was sent a letter to cease using a name of a car.

Making It Legal (ish)

When you get that name you wanna protect it right? Well besides making it a trademark you can put it on the registers stated already in the article. Also think about making your name more searchable. Get all your social media accounts to be set up with the chosen name. The more you have, the better the search results will be if and when heavens bid that another performer looks at the option of selecting your name. Unions such as Equity wont allow people to join them with the same/too similar names so its always a good thing to get registered that way.

Info on trademarking your stage name can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/how-to-register-a-trade-mark

It is worth noting your trade mark cannot:

• be offensive. It is unclear if puns that are of ‘rude’ words count as offensive.
• Be too common and non-distinctive examples are provided on the site.

You pay around £200 pounds to register. If your trademark is rejected you lose that money. This isnt something to race into or do so lightly. Worth noting that people can object to you having it and as such you can in fact end up paying out legal fees in attempts to resolve any conflicts. Trademarks are lifed currently at 10 years so be sure to keep on top of it.

However if you do trademark

HELP SOMEONE HAS THE SAME NAME AS ME!

Firstly shit like this happens a lot. Like I said the scene is saturated and thats just the burlesque side. Other creative circuits use stage names so it will happen more frequently as the scenes build in members. Dont fly off the handle and get all shitty about ‘your’ name being used.

1. First thing to do is to establish who is using it the longest. This means you have to be open and honest with the other party. Approaching them professionally. Once that has been established, you can then decide how to proceed.
2. If it was someone super new to the scene it is likely they made a mistake and didnt do their research….or you havent put your name about much. Remember people only know about you if they come across you. So you gotta get that SEO (search engine optimisation) up there.
3. If both parties have been using the names for a long time, there is financial investment on both sides. It is hard for either party to choose who changes their name. Sometimes you really do have to sit and think are an audience gonna mistake us for the same performer? Or are we likely to be on the same bill? There are some things you gotta just let go. Its horrible I get that but its sometimes easier to agree to co-exist than go through all the issues of changing your name such as social media account switches, business cards, tax registration etc. One situation of two similar named performers ended up with one changing the spelling slightly. So there could be workarounds. Dont be completely disheartened.

Whilst you could ask the other party to reconsider the name; after speaking to a professional on this, they can challenge it by stating it is not a registered trademark and therefore they can continue to use it. It isnt nice to know that but sometimes you got to realise some fights arent worth it. The way around this sort of dilemma is to ensure it is your details that come up in searches when people go looking. Do the hard work on your websites and it will deter people from using your name as it will adversely affect them. Who wants to be a performer no one can find? No one, thats who!

Please note a performer having the same name as you IS NOT the same as someone pretending to be you. That is a whole other level of batshit cray cray behaviour. One I have experienced and one for another story time.

There are plenty of businesses that have similar names. Your name is only PART of your career success.

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