Question about film production company

C

calif0rnian

In order for me to use my brandname I invented, in which I'm not going to name because it's not copyright protected yet; but can I just use it on my films without it being a legit business?

Has anyone else started a small studio, like a 1 man editing, film making studio and have an name for that? What did you do?

How should I go forward with this, does anyone know?

Appreciate it,
Ian
 
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Cool I made a similar thread about this.

What I learned is that you can go ahead and use a name for fun, but if you actually want to make profit from it you definitely need to get it registered. Also, you need to make sure the name is original. Do a search at
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4001:5dccth.1.1

Its hard to find a completely original name. If unfortunately your name is taken. (for a complete look, try several google searches to make sure your name isn't taken), you can probably use the name as long as you are very distant geographically, and have a completely different type of business.
 
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A federal tax ID will be helpful and stamp a date of the start of that business name. You'll also have to get local business license. I think your looking at a trademark instead of a copyright.
 
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Yes, you can call yourself a production company even if it's just films for fun, etc. Is that what you mean?
 
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calif0rnian said:
In order for me to use my brandname I invented, in which I'm not going to name because it's not copyright protected yet; but can I just use it on my films without it being a legit business?
Click to expand...

Your business name cannot be copyright protected. Legally there can be
several businesses using the same name as long as they are in different
businesses. And yes, you can use the name on your films without it
being a legal business.

A production company is no different than any company. A
manufacturing company buys or rents a building and makes a
product. An auto repair company buys or rents a building and fixes
cars. A "production company" make movies. And they are all started
in the same way.

There is a "small business association" in most cities - there is
one in San Francisco. They can help you with legal matters. The
short version: You will fill out the paperwork, make the required
legal declarations and get to work.

You need to know clearly what your goals are. Do you just want to
put a name on the credits of your movie? Do you need to open a
bank account using the company name?

A Sole Proprietorship:
A sole proprietorship is the simplest form of business where one
individual conducts the business. The business owner is personally
liable for all the obligations of the business.

Check here fo some good info. And HERE for name availability.

Search Fictitious Business name California for a TON of information on
registering your name and starting your one business.
 
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Does anybody have any information on this that is more relevant to the UK?

I did start a thread, but I only got a few replies… :(

If i were to start a company, I’d be the company owner, director, secretary, 100% share holder, there’d be no money coming in or out (at least for a while, I’d be funding everything myself!). I'd just need to protect the name.

Any ideas?
 
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mad_hatter said:
Does anybody have any information on this that is more relevant to the UK?

I did start a thread, but I only got a few replies… :(

If i were to start a company, I’d be the company owner, director, secretary, 100% share holder, there’d be no money coming in or out (at least for a while, I’d be funding everything myself!). I'd just need to protect the name.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
http://tinyurl.com/5ted34x

Please don't get angry. It's just a friendly joke. But it should help.
 
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Thanks Rik. I'd been trying to work out how Google worked for ages!!!

In all seriousness, I know this is laziness on my part, but to do this properly would require either paying for a solicitor to tell me exactly what to do, or, reading through approximately seven billion pages of b.s. (half of which i've already read, and gotten nowhere), just to find out that I may not need to do anything at all.

I was hoping that somebody may be in my position, wanting to produce no-budget movies, but under a registered (or at least protected) business name.


Also, I mentioned this in my other thread, on the Companies House website, there is a name checker and several suprising result come up. For example, according to companies house, I could set up a business named 'New Line Cinema Ltd.'
 
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You could set up a business with "New Line Cinema", but if you produced
and distributed movies under that name, the first New Line Cinema would
have a legitimate claim that you were creating confusion. Look up the Apple
Corps vs Apple Computer legal fight. It lasted for decades.

The cold hard fact is if you are going to make your prodCo legally legitimate
it's going to cost you some money. I did a quick check of the top four hits on
that Google search and it all seemed clear to me. And very similar to what
we need to do here in the States.

If you are offering shares (even if you don't sell them and are the only share
holder) the legal requirements are different than if you are a Sole Proprietor.
If all you want to do is register your business name so you can put it on your
movies it's pretty simple and not expensive. As you now know, you cannot
protect the name to the point where no one can use it ever. My very first
registered prodCo was "Paragon Productions". There are dozens. The domain
name for my current registered prodCo was taken long before I named my
company. The guy who owns the domain name doesn't "own" the production
company name. The only way there will even be a legal issue is if we both
produce movies, TV or theater. When it gets to that point that will mean we
BOTH are making a lot of money and are creating confusion in the market
place.

I sure hope that happens soon.
 
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