a DJ from the UK "stole" my band name

[Codyeatruck]

in 2012 a few friends and i started writing music together.
we had a few rough demos and on june 15, 2012 we made a bandcamp under the name "X"
we only posted one demo song and put the project on the back burner.
since then we've been writing and recording off and on under various names, but never took the "X" bandcamp down.
we now have a finished EP we are putting out on cassette tape and bandcamp under our original name, "X".
i posted it on our bandcamp last night and deleted the original demo (because it sucked really bad)

much to my dismay, this morning i discovered a DJ from the UK that has been using our name since late 2014
his name was "Y" from 2008-2014 when he changed it to "X"

my bandmates and i write/play music for ourselves. we most likely won't ever make any money or acquire any level of "fame", nor is that our goal.

are we in a compromising position?

(i'm using the word "stole" loosely)

[D.o.S.]

Don't worry about it.

Worst case scenario, turn into Stillhead (US)

[backwardsvoyager]

in this situation it's hard to say whether you can blame the guy. i would never use a band name with anything existing attached to it but i get that if you guys didn't seem to be established (ie only an older demo on bandcamp, no ongoing posts on social media to confirm you were still going with it) he might have seen it and brushed it off thinking it was fair game, but a quick email or something wouldn't hurt would it..

IMO if you're in a position where changing your band name won't affect anything, that would be a good option in the long term. as D.o.S. said, there's nothing to worry about per se, the Stillhead (US) thing will always work and there are existing major bands that do this and probably aren't damaged by it at all.

[Chankgeez]

"Stillhead (US)" is kinda weird.

"stillheaded" is much better.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

still h.e.a.d

[Muff_Diver]

I've gotten a cease and desist over the exact same thing before- its not worth fucking around with.
You can make your band an llc and or trademark the name- both of which cost money and from my understanding of your current situation don't really seem all that worthwhile.
You're at a point where you can change the name and no one (but you and your bandmates) will notice.

Id just change your name to DFRNT.

Stillheaded is a solid name, as well.

[kbit]

still h.e.a.d

[oscillofuzz]

I'm familiar with the problem, but the other way around. We are called 'The Howl Ensemble' and after we released our first track on Bandcamp, played a few gigs and had stickers printed, we found out there also is/was (they don't seem to be active anymore) a techno DJ-collective or something called 'Howl Ensemble' ,without the 'The', from Italy/Hungary/Romania (southern/eastern Europe somewhere, I forgot where exactly) who had used that name before we started our band. We also have our debut LP/CD printed with 'The Howl Ensemble' on it as the band name and we're working on getting our name out there (and it's starting to pay off, at least locally) so having to change our name would be a major hindrance. So far we've been very adamant in including the 'The' in our name everywhere to differentiate between us & them, but worst case scenario, if we are forced to change the name, we'd probably go with the aforementioned adding of our country's initials; NL, so we won't have to go through the hassle of changing the Bandcamp/Facebook/Discogs/whatever pages, having new stickers made, and worst of all starting building a name for ourselves all over again.

But in all seriousness; since neither of both projects are based in the US, nor have any mainstream appeal, I don't expect to be confronted with something like a 'cease & desist'-order any time soon.

[Iommic Pope]

Stillhead B.C.

Register the name then make HIM jump through legal loops to settle out of court with you guys.
Easy pay day.

[Doctor X]

happened to scarlett johansson too - http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/f ... me-singles