How Trademark Law Can Safeguard Your Visual Art: Stop Signing Your Name, and Start off Branding Your Art

You have a brand already. Internally, employees at every level have their perceptions of the HR department. Never confuse a slogan with a brand. Employees, however, "experience" the HR department's ability to live up to its brand promise on a daily and intimate basis.

Your brand must be relevant. Your HR/Employer Brand must be relevant to the needs and motivations of your current and future employees.

Keep your brand goals practical.

A strong brand will make your job easier. Yes, it takes work to develop an HR brand, but over the long haul it more than pays for itself. A brand is a promise, and a promise kept is repaid with trust.

HR Branding - Observations From a Marketing Perspective

It is a crucial addition to your art. Art within art.

Stop merely signing your name, and start branding your art. As an artist, you have the right to claim your art as yours. Your art is everything to you. Copyright and trademark laws were developed specifically to protect artists and art. Unfortunately, that means that copyright law will not protect your name or signature when you're dead (a time when your art can be the most valuable). But don't despair – trademark law is here to help.Trademark law protects an artist's name, signature and logo. Signatures on Art: Minimal ProtectionEvery artist's signature communicates a great deal of information to art consumers. Not only does it tell art buyers who the creator is, but it also reveals the quality of the art, the history of the art, the origin of the art, the price of the art, and the investment return the art will provide. If fictitious artist John Smith signed his oil paintings as J. Smith, and attempted to register his signature with the Trademark Office, the Trademark Office would likely refuse his application because Smith is a common last name. If you are a famous artist, then you will have an easier time proving this association because even those working at the Trademark Office would recognize your name. The difference is that a single name will not be regarded as a surname since it can be argued that it is merely a first name, nickname, middle name, etc. The stronger your trademark, the more you and your art will be worth. If you are a habitual artist, you can continue to sign your name on your art while simultaneously branding your art with a logo. Envision your logo as a piece of art within itself. Your art is your business. So brand your art with your soul. Simple Steps Toward Branding Your Art Today:As you may already know, the explosion of online media sharing sites has affected the art world in strange ways. The internet brings art directly to the viewers. Art consumers rely heavily upon your brand. Consequently, you will gain their trust and loyalty forever.Follow these simple tips to ensure that you protect your art for the future:• If you sign, sign the same way each time.• If you want to brand, design an arbitrary and fanciful logo or monogram.• Sign or brand every single work of art.• Date every single work of art.• Sign or brand on the visible (i.e., front) side of the art.• Embed your signature or brand into your art.• Finally, register your signature or brand with the Trademark Office!