Why artists like Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Anitta trademark their nicknames
Trademarks are the most important type of Intellectual Property (IP) to protect the rights over an artist’s stage name. But protecting an artist’s legal name and nicknames they are known for might be just as important as protecting their stage name.
This is why artists like Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, and Anitta trademark their stage names, but also their nicknames, alternate stage names, and other names or expressions that are a part of their artistic brand, as well as their personal brand.
Recently, a brewery company created a product named “San Benito”, using the image of Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny. The artist, whose birth name is Benito, uses the handle @sanbenito on Twitter, where he amasses 4kk+ followers.
Bad Bunny/Benito, who owns applied for a trademark over “San Benito” in the United States, and his record label Rimas Entertainment sued the brewery company for trademark rights infringement, as well as for the unauthorized use of Benito’s name and image.
Known in the celeb IPs world for her intelligent and sometimes intriguing use of trademarks, Beyoncé knows how IP plays a role in the building and protection of her personas and body of work too.
Besides owning trademarks over “Beyoncé”, the singer and producer also trademarked her nickname “Yoncé” (which happens to also be the title of one of her tracks), her alter ego’s name “Sasha Fierce” (from her 2008 album I Am… Sasha Fierce), and more.
Even humour can become a part of an artist’s brand — but also can become a strategy for third parties to profit from an artist’s popularity. Brazilian super star Anitta knows that very well.
Even humour can become a part of an artist’s brand — but likewise, it is often a strategy for third parties to profit from an artist’s popularity. Brazilian superstar Anitta knows that very well.
When the singer and entrepreneur (whose birth name is Larissa) was making her first moves toward a career in the United States in 2017, she collaborated with Iggy Azalea on the song “Switch”, and the two performed it on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. It was Anitta’s first time on USA television; and Brazilian fans couldn’t help but be surprised when listening to the English pronunciation of her name, with the double T in “Anitta” sounding like the Portuguese sound of “R”.
“Anira” would quickly become a meme on social media. Anitta wasted no time and filed trademark applications for “Anira” in Brazil, nearly one month after the Jimmy Fallon performance. Five years later, Anitta has come back to Fallon’s show many times to perform her own songs, and in Brazil, fans sometimes fondly call her “Anira” as a reference to the international stardom she achieved.
Owning a trademark over the joke/nickname was a smart move from Anitta and her team, as parodies and humour are among the most common forms of trademark infringement and parasitic exploitation in IP.
Anitta also owns trademarks over her first stage name “MC Anitta”, her cartoon representation “Anittinha”, and more.
These cases show how strong Bad Bunny, Beyoncé and Anitta’s brands are, but also how important IP is to keep them in control of it.
This blog post is published for informational purposes only, and is not intended to promote any of the artists or brands here mentioned. The information on this blog post is based on the laws in force at the time it was written, and were all obtained from public databases. Its use does not create an attorney-client relationship, as this blog post does not consist of or replace legal advice neither business consultancy services.
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