I want to name my home bakery part of a song title and use a couple lines from the song a

[Leslie Bussert]

Jurisdiction

Ohio

I am starting a specialized bakery out of my home. I want to name Back at Momma's. There is a country song named "Mean while back at Momma's" I would also like to use a couple small parts of the song on my business cards and opinion cards. Do I need permission?

 

[adjusterjack]

Do I need permission?

Yes.

Edit: I was going to edit and say that the name might be OK but TC beat me to the button.

 

[Tax Counsel]

I am starting a specialized bakery out of my home. I want to name Back at Momma's. There is a country song named "Mean while back at Momma's" I would also like to use a couple small parts of the song on my business cards and opinion cards. Do I need permission?

Using the name "Back at Momma's" for the business is not likely to be a problem unless someone else is already using that as the name/trademark for their food related business. You may want to see a trademark attorney to do a good trademark search and ensure that you won't have a trademark problem.

As for copyright concerns, names of people and titles of books/movies/songs are generally not protected by copyright. So the business name isn't going to run into a copyright problem.

However, quoting lyrics from the song on your business promotional material is another matter. That likely would infringe on the rights of the copyright holder unless you have permission from the copyright holder for the use of those lyrics.

 

[army judge]

Do I need permission?

I suspect the entity OR individual in possession of the copyright(s) would say YES.

 

[zddoodah]

Do I need permission?

For the name? Probably not. For use of the lyrics? Depends on exactly what and how much you're using, but I'd say probably.

P.S. It's best not to base a business venture on someone else's intellectual property -- especially when that someone has enough money to sue you into the ground 100 times over.