In recent weeks the press carried the case of a singer whose legal structure — trademarks and companies — is reportedly held by a relative rather than in her own name. It is not for me to comment on someone else’s affairs that I know only through press reports, and such accounts should be treated with caution.
What I can say is that the pattern repeats, and that I see it with surprising frequency.
The arrangement that starts well
A project begins when the person is very young, or has no structure, or simply does not know about this. Someone trusted — a parent, a partner, a manager — takes charge of the legal side. They incorporate the company, register the trademarks, sign the contracts.
It all works for as long as the relationship works. The problem is that ownership was documented in that person’s name, and documents outlive verbal understandings.
What is left exposed
- The trademarks. If the IMPI registration is in a third party’s name, it belongs to that third party. Your use of it does not create ownership.
- The companies. Without documented shareholding there is no right to dividends and no right to decide.
- The works. Songs, designs, content: if the economic rights were assigned to a company you do not control, future exploitation is not yours either.
- The contracts. If you are not a party, you cannot enforce them.
This is not only about artists
The same arrangement appears in family businesses of every size: the trademark in the father’s name because he put up the capital, the shares in the brother’s name because he handles the paperwork, the premises in an aunt’s name.
While relations are good, nobody reviews it. It gets reviewed when there is a separation, an inheritance, a sale or a disagreement. And then the only thing that counts is what is written down.
What to check, without it being an act of distrust
Raising this is not breaking trust: it is organizing it.
- Check with IMPI whose name your trademarks are registered in. It is public and takes minutes.
- Review the incorporation deed and the shareholders’ register: who holds what percentage.
- Verify whether assignment agreements exist over what you have created, and in whose favor.
- If ownership does not match reality, it can be corrected: an assignment of a trademark is recorded with the Institute and takes effect against third parties.
The point
Trust is a good starting point and a poor title deed. Documenting does not mean distrusting anyone: it means that the day someone is no longer there or changes their mind, your work is still yours.
If you want to know whose name your trademarks are in, write to us: the search is free of charge.