Legal Advice with a DJ Name

Given the money value of his name, I would say it is not safe to use it.

Zidane is his last name. So it’s just a last name. It is not a nickname that he is known for. But I don’t think it’s your last name, am I right? If that is the case you can’t say; Hey I am just using my own name, that happens to be the same as the last name Zinédine zidane ‘s last name.

I don’t think it is going to be a problem unless you are starting to get really famous / known as DJ. But if that is the case then I think you wouldn’t want to change your name. because under that name you build your fan base and reputation.
So I don’t think it is going to be a problem but maybe it is better to come up with a new name. Just in case

This is why I scrap every name I think of, someone else has always thought of it first and not always musicians or djs.. sometimes production companies.. software companies… thought forms and alchemy are taken… I produce my own beats, dance oriented stuff, and write/record/compose other genres, so whatever stage name/moniker/pseudonym I come up with for that stuff I’ll be using for djing as well, and therefore I won’t be putting DJ in front of it… don’t know if that’s an approach which is worth considering for your needs but just throwing it out there…

probably the most useful thing I’ve ever heard about choosing an artist name was said by Josh Homme of Queens of the stone age during a mid-gig interview (Queens of the Stone Age – Live at KCRW Studios http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0P2KYj6Wqs) he was asked about how he came up with the name “them crooked vultures” for his side project and he said that everytime they thought of something cool it was already taken by some jam band in canada that had never played a gig, then they realised that if you use bad grammar, ANY name is available.. 😛

I would just use it.

I think you’ll be ok – let’s face it, if I saw a flyer saying Zidane was DJ’ing tonight i’m pretty sure I wouldn’t expect to see that footballer behind the decks 🙂

In trademark law is kind of crappy, but you usually can’t hold universal trademark across all markets. Trademarks exist to protect consumers and companies from instances of confusion with the trademarked name, or to prevent unlicensed marketability of someone’s trademark in an unrelated product.

For example, someone could name an extermination company Dead Mouse because there is no way anyone would reasonably believe Deadmau5 is coming to their door to deal with a rodent infestation. Deamau5 would not have any reasonable claims that his brand was damaged or that he lost out on money as this is not a market he operates in.

The fuzzy land of trademark law comes in if say, Kellogs made a cereal called “Dead Mouse”. Obviously they couldn’t call it “Deadmau5” but they’re probably trying to ape on his brand recognition even without his unique spelling. As celebrities take cereal brand deals all the time, it could lead to consumer confusion, etc.

Long story short, Zidane is a common enough sounding name which is, to my knowledge, not a well known artist in the music market that I don’t think confusion would realistically happen with the soccer player.