Rock N Roll, Entertainment, The Music Business...  and if You look at the term Music Business, Business is the biggest word; can be a long, rough and winding road.  At times it is made more difficult by those who act unethically.  Want to be's and posers who will stop at nothing to get a little online attention can make it difficult at times for established Artist and their Fans through Copyright Infringement; unethical use of keywords, and, at times nothing short of all out identity theft and fraud.  They confuse Search Engines;use half truths to harass the Artist who they are in fact ripping off by making false claims to Bing, Yahoo and Google etc, when the established Artist is rightfully placed above them in Search Engine Results, claiming their Rights are being infringed upon when they fraudulently obtain TMs and the list goes on.  Many of these people who act in this unethical manner skip parts of the process which are required to legally obtain a TM, such as claiming they have no knowledge of anyone else with claim to Copyright or TM, and, that they are not intentionally seeking to cause confusion in the marketplace.  Also in the case of Artist using a name that is not their legal name; there is a form they are supposed to send to anyone with that legal name ( and this can include nicknames ) obtaining that person's permission to use their name; which should be submitted along with their TM application.  I am not a Lawyer; but, this is clearly explained on The United States Trade Mark Office website.  Some of these unethical " Artist " will skip these steps; and, proceed with TM applications anyway despite numerous notices over several Years in some cases to Cease and Desist such activities.  When they are ultimately called out on this behavior most will claim ignorance to the fact they were doing anything wrong; or, unethical.  However, there are legal precedents where Judges have ruled in favor of Established Artist because the infringing party " should have known " what they were doing was infringing on another Artist' Rights.

    It is sad that those who choose this unethical path are so insecure in their own identity; and, talent, they need to try and Capitalize on the hard work, and, reputation of others.  Artist and Fans who have had enough of this type thing should raise hell with Administrators for Search Engines when they see this happening.  These unethical " Artist " contribute to nothing other than muddying waters which at times have bad enough clarity.  The bottom line; if You call Yourself an Artist...  do Your own thing.  Be Yourself.  There is 1 You.  Be proud of that You; whether You happen to be what the public wants at any given time or not.  This is a separate blog entirely; but, I have met many Artist who wanted to do Art for Art sake and were not concerned with commercial success or demographics.  Others invest a lot of time, money, effort, blood, sweat and tears into having a successful career from their Art.  When it comes down to it; do what is right for You.  But don't be a total schmuck; and infringe upon another's rights in chasing You dreams.  Be ethical, work hard and respect the hard work and dedication of Your fellow Artist !  Rock On !!!!