What’s in a Name?

An open letter to all my fans, friends, supporters, & comrades.

Ya know, it’s funny how much little things – trivial things – mean. Take names for instance, a few letters, a syllable or three, a totally meaningless abstract symbol – and yet it can contain a persons entire identity, history, sense of self even. It’s huge. I’ve been thinking about names a lot lately, not least because I’ve noticed that there are an awful lot of folks running around calling themselves Lynx. I can’t blame ‘em, after all Lynx’s are pretty damn cool, but it does present a bit of a problem for me since as an independent musician all I really have is my name and whatever name recognition I’ve earned in the last decade or so since I started making music and in the last seven years since I released my first album.

All these years I’ve been giving away my music for free on the assumption that doing so would (a) make a pretty solid statement against capitalism and the comodification of music. I quite literally put my money where my mouth is. and (b) because I figured that if I made it free and encouraged people to burn and share my music it’d spread and people all over the place would hear about me and (more importantly) the message I’m trying to communicate. I’d like to think it’s been a success on both fronts. I regularly get email from people around the world and my songs have been featured on mixtapes and benefit compilations all over the USA and as far afield as Australia, the UK, Germany, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Russia. That’s a pretty big deal for a working-class nobody operating solo without even a record label. I’ve given a lot of music to a lot of people and done the best I can to put anarchist ideas out there in the best way I know how. That success has been all the reward I asked for or wanted. But If I step back for a second and look at it, all I really have (as an individual) that I can take from that and use to build for the future is my name .

So what do I do when someone tries to take my name?

That’s the problem I’m looking at right now. I’ve never been the only Lynx in the hip hop scene. There’s Cuban Lynx and Vigor lynx and even a DJ lynx; but nobody get them confused with me (or vice versa) because they’re all _______ + lynx, not just “Lynx” so it wass obvious that when a reviewer or a radio dj referred to “Lynx” it was about me and not one of them.

Now though, there are a few different cats (pardon the pun) calling themselves Lynx – and just lynx – who’ve stepped on the scene. Probably the best known of those is a female folk/hip hop fusion singer from Colorado, Caitlin Demuth, who’s taken to calling herself Lynx and has gotten a few favorable reviews and played at a few different festivals in the last year, including Burning Man here in the Bay Area. her music is actually pretty good, at least as far as hippie-hop goes. She’s causing me one giant headache right now though because my band also plays a hip hop/folk fusion (though we come at it more from the hip hop side) and we’re booking festivals and college campuses all over the place right now. having another Lynx marketing herself aggressively in that same scene spells nothing but headaches and confusion for me, for promoters, and for fans who buy tickets expecting to see one of us and end up seeing the other onstage.

now the trademark laws are very clear here. If I was to file a trademark infringement lawsuit I’d win. All I have to do is prove I had it first and it’s an open-and-shut, and that’s easy to do because I’ve been Lynx a hell of a lot longer then ms. demuth or any of the others. Counting compilations I’ve had 15 music releases and been featured in a full-length documentary since 2001, she had 1 release in 2007. Since I had the name first, my trademark renders hers invalid. Thing is, I don’t want to sue anybody. Let alone someone whose music I actually kind of like. But she’s made it clear through email that she’s not willing to change her name (not even to keep the lynx part and just add another word to it like Cuban Lynx or Missing Lynx or Vigor Lynx); and she’s not interested in dialog or working with me to come up with some other solution. Which is pretty fucking disrespectful if you ask me. Before I started putting out albums I sat down and spent the better part of a week researching names and making sure there wasn’t anyone else out who could be easily confused with me. Legally she was required to do the same before filing for Lynx as a registered trademark. She obviously didn’t because if she had she would have found me. That’s her bad, and it bugs me that not only is this strangers fuckup causing me headaches but she won’t even admit she’s in the wrong or take steps to make it right. So I’m starting to feel like I don’t have many other options besides doing the stereotypical american thing and suing her. yuck.

As it stands my options are:

  1. Do nothing and watch as the name recognition I’ve spent most of a decade building disapears.This is, obviously, not really an option.
  2. Grit my teeth and pay a lot of money i can’t afford to spend – money that I’d rather be putting into another tour or into promoting my bands second album or (frankly) into food and rent – and use the courts I despise to force her to stop using my name.If I have to go this route I’m going to be pissed. Like really really angry pissed. I don’t get angry very often, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been really pissed off in the last decade or so and most of those involve cops. So if it goes there and I’m forced to take money away from my music to make some inconsiderate asshole stop fucking up my shit I’m going to be merciless and sue her for everything I can get. It will not be pretty.
  3. say “fuck it” there are too many Lynx’s anyway and change *my* name.

A big part of me wants to stand up and fight for my name. but if my only method of fighting is the capitalist courts then maybe….. i dunno, maybe it’s not worth the hassle. Like I said, there are a few other new cats out there calling themeslves Lynx and It’s starting to feel like filing claims against all of them would be like trying to put out brushfires with a leaky bucket filled from a dry well. I’m not trying to be the RIAA here, after all, and – unlike the RIAA – I just plain don’t have money to throw away on lawsuits, whether I’d win them all or not.Hell, maybe it’d even be a good career move – DreDog (a local gangster rapper) changed his name to Andre Nickatina a couple years ago and it turned out to be the best move he’s made in years. There were a lot of ‘Dogs’ in his scene, but only one andre nickatina. at the point where there are suddenly a lot of lynx’s in my scene maybe i should do the same. even if i was the original. just the fact that it’s not unique any more makes the name worth less then it used to be. And frankly, the “Emcee” honorific in front of my name has been played out for a long time. It was a cool thing to spell out MC phonetically in the southbay hip hop scene in the late 90′s when I first picked my name, but that’s not the scene I’m in now. So I’m due for a change anyway. I’d planned to just call myself Lynx on my next album and drop the honorific entirely, but that’s obviously not viable with multiple other Lynx’s out there.

besides, who the hell wants a name that half a dozen other people are trying to claim anyway? My name should be something unique, something fresh, something that makes people think of politicians getting guillotined and factories being taken over by the workers.

Still, I like the name Lynx. It’s been my name for a very long time. Virtually all my friends know me as lynx and only as lynx. hell, even my mother in law calls me lynx. so changing it is not something I can or should do lightly.

So no good options, at least none that I can think of. Maybe I’m missing something? Which is sort of the point of this post. I can’t see a clear way forward so I want to put the question to all of you – the folks who’ve been listening to my music, coming out to my shows, and supporting me as an artist for years now.

What should I do?

and if you pick number 3 (just to make it interesting) leave a suggestion for a new name. My good friend Cozy T says that hip hop names should always be given by another person, not just something you come up with on your own. Apparently I’ve been in violation of hip hop law for years now and never even knew it! So maybe this is my chance to rectify that. Or maybe I’ll pick up some extra hours of work and raise the funds to just sue the fucker(s). dunno. i’m obviously not going to just put it up to a vote, but I promise to read and consider everything ya’ll have to say.

thanks for all your support,

lynx

Posted: April 16th, 2008 under music, news, personal.
Comments: 14

Comments

Comment from earthchild
Time: April 16, 2008, 6:32 am

Hi, Lynx. You don’t know me but I’ve been listening to your music for a couple years now. (It was love at first listen.) I understand your dilemma about your name. My first impulse is to say “fight for it” but I also agree about having to go through the system while not wanting to be a part of that. I have personal experience of having to use the court system to resolve a dispute and it’s not pretty. Even if you know you’re right and know you’ll eventually win, you spend all your time wishing it would just be over with and really hating that the other side wouldn’t work with you without having the bring in the gov. That does something to your soul and I would hate to see that happen to you. :(

OTOH, changing your name might not be a bad idea. People have traditionally changed their name due to a life change. I’ve changed my online name several times over the years, and I’m seriously considering changing my name in real life. You might find this article interesting: http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/wolfe0202.html (You might enjoy some of her other articles while you’re there.)

Just thought I’d give you some feedback on this so there it is. Don’t let this problem get you down. You have more important things to do with your time and your money. I truly admire you for the work you do.

I don’t have a name in mind for you but suggest something of a Celtic warrior-type name. Maybe I’ll think of one and post here later. Peace.

Comment from Gato de Diablo
Time: April 16, 2008, 6:59 am

Its onmly $150 to take her to civil court. You still could sue her. You can also show proof of you having the name first, build a suit and show this to her and threaten to sue. Don’t falter to her. You fight bigger fish then her. Don’t back down! Fight for what is YOURS!

Comment from Jake Beamer
Time: April 16, 2008, 7:33 am

Hey there Lynx

Love your stuff, have and will. Great website design, by the way. The logo at the top is awesome, with the pic of you and all. AWESOME. I hadn’t seen it in a while.

Ok I do music too (Winter Itch and the more politically slanted Doctor Labyrinth) and I think I’ve even contacted you before, but it’s been a while.

First off, I’d like to congratulate you – the Lynx stuff and the Beltaine’s stuff are both really interesting… although I’m not into Beltaine’s – but that’s why it’s a cool niche project! Some people are really into that kind of thing.

Also, I like your more abstract songs kinda.. the ones that flow best, obviously.. but you happen to have a lot of them!

In my honest opinion, it SUCKS about that/those other loser(s) who insist on having your name, but that is why it is a PERFECT time for a re-invention.. all artists do it, and in this case, the world is pushing for it from ya, apparently.

Go for it and the best way is to find something that NO ONE has used (a combo of words usually works best) but you can STILL be MC lynx in that project – that’s what’s cool. But that main project name can just encompass everything you do as lynx. Like the project name and you’re the emcee of it. That type of thing.

Good luck, keep it up, and hope it all works out (do you KNOW how many times I and other artists must have changed our project name?! Ha – usually yeah to get something more original that has never been used.)

-Jake of Winter Itch (winteritchmusic.com) and Doc Lab too (doctorlabyrinth.com)

Comment from Jake Beamer
Time: April 16, 2008, 7:36 am

Oh yeah.. maybe one you might wanna look at is one I never got to use hah – but an old project name that doesn’t appear to currently have any use either…

Attack the Applicant. :) Nice ring eh? Hah.

-J (was trying to remember the name of the project when I contacted you last.. maybe it was Smiling Carcinogens or refocusality or burning cities or something, which I found out was used.)

Comment from Ron
Time: April 16, 2008, 8:00 am

Hey Lynx,

It sucks to be forced to litigate this but I’ve always held strong to principles. If someone isn’t down to negotiate, you gotta storm the castle. In this case, it seems like storming the castle is suing her. Reminds me of the whole Common Sense thing back in the day.

peace
Ron

Comment from Mocho
Time: April 16, 2008, 12:41 pm

Hey Lynx,

I’d say you stick with the oldschool “Emcee Lynx”, if you still feel right about it. That’s the name we found you with, and you’re the guy I’ll always think about when I’ll hear the word “lynx”.

But, if you were thinking about a name change anyway, before this whole mess, you should go for it. You’ll still be “lynx” for us :)

My point is, anything is better then the court scenario.

Respect from the other side of the world.

Comment from anarchy66
Time: April 16, 2008, 1:41 pm

Hey Lynx,
Two options really. First stick to emcee Lynx, people shorten names and we will continue to know you as Lynx but at least it will avoid the issues of not being booked. Second change the name maybe to Original Lynx and mind fuck the others. Maybe put the offer of a stage showdown with the other Lynx.

Litigation I do not see as an option and you allude to this point as you do not want to use the capitalist system as you say yourself. Why use a system you are opposed to, that does not make sense. Whatever you choose your fans will still be there and the music will still rule supreme. Just make sure the music wins, you have been here for a decade and will continue to be here. If you change names, just look at other hip hop artists who have done the same, they have grown. Go with the flow but make sure the music continues. Respect given whichever path you take…Richard

Comment from Miles
Time: April 17, 2008, 9:11 am

Lynx! Arrrrggghhh! I really LIKE that name, and like you say, that’s how most know you including me. Unfortunately I don’t see an easy answer either. It sounds as though from your own description that you would be investing a lot of time hating on this other Lynx if you were to try to sue her. Not only would it be a huge hassle investing time and money into this suit, using a court system that you despise, but you’d be investing in a lot of negativity, anger, hatred. Lynx is an awesome name worth fighting for if you could do it in a reasonable way, like an on-stage battle like somebody recommended. But the option you have doesn’t seem worth it. And like folks are saying, people reinvent their identities all the time. Whatever name you take, just make sure folks can still link it to Lynx.

As far as suggestions, I liked someone’s suggestion of Original Lynx as long as the other lynxs don’t also then start taking that name. Otherwise, I’d say some other kind of big cat…cheetah, tiger, ocelot, jaguar, etc. Or some variation on a name like that…Lionized, Lionized Lynx, Lynx Lionized, etc. Good luck and keep up the fantastic lyrics and music.

Cheers,
Miles

Comment from Skeletal
Time: April 17, 2008, 4:09 pm

Hey Lynx,

I just discovered you 2 weeks ago through personal atheist research via Wikipedia, hah…gotta love it. Anyway, I remember doin’ a paper on lynxes in like grade 5 or some shit and that’s what came to my mind when I came across your name and music. I admit, you made yourself pop up whenever I think of lynxes.

I know how it is creating a unique name and the frustration that comes with seeing someone else abusing the name you hold so close to you. From what I read, I’m surprised you didn’t mention that you have any other aliases…I’ve gone through so much names that I have a couple “a.k.a.’s” that go with my main name.

“Whatever name you take, just make sure folks can still link it to Lynx.”

Here is another option you can consider: do NOT change your name and instead, add onto it…make it even more meaningful than it already is. Not only do I love my name, but I love it more now that I found an acronym for it that expresses even more about the person I am so well. Now, I don’t spell it out as an acronym, but you could. Make Lynx L.Y.N.X…I’ll comment again if I think of an acronym that may contain your whole persona.

You can have it. Don’t worry, it’s all yours, I won’t sue :P

(By the way, “Ocelot” is crazy-soundin’, lol)

Comment from lynx
Time: April 17, 2008, 4:17 pm

1 update – I officially went through the process of registering Lynx as a trademark nationally in the USA today, cost me $550 bucks ‘cuz I had to register twice – once for the ability to perform as Lynx and again for the ability to let ya’ll download music from me as Lynx. yeah, you read that right, I had to pay the government $225 to let ya’ll download my music for free without fear of having someone else register my name and sue me. Insert rant about Capitalism and the State here..

So if any of ya’ll that enjoy and support my music have been thinking about making a donation, now would be a really great time to do it, because that filing cost shoots a huge hole in my budget.

it’s kind of odd, in the USA you own your trademark automatically the moment you use it commercially – so I’ve technically owned Lynx as a trademark from the first time I stepped on stage as lynx way back in ’99. but i’ve still gotta pay the State hundreds of dollars for the right to give away my own music under my own name. grrr. And that’s before I even look at lawyers fees to deal with other people who are using it. not to say that I’m going to sue anyone, frankly I don’t think I can afford to right now – especially not after dropping so much money on filing the trademark fees. I’ve got to think about it some more.

and, seriously, I want to take a second to say THANK YOU to everyone that’s taken the time to leave comments or send me email about this, I really appreciate all the feedback and everyone’s points, it’s been really helpful for me as i try to figure out what to do.

solidarity,
lynx

Comment from revolutionary88
Time: April 19, 2008, 2:19 pm

Hi, obviously going to court is nothing for an anarchist to do. And I think many enough people know you for your rep not to suffer due to this cat. So just keep making better shit than ever and this won’t backlash you. Take it as a challenge to be the best lynx around and keep up the struggle.

Comment from ruben
Time: April 20, 2008, 5:29 am

Hi, I have only been reading your blogs and listening to you music for a couple months, and I’m only 18 and far away from america, but you have made me think about some of the stuff you write in your blog a couple times allready.

I was thinking of doing something similar to what you are doing, I write lyrics when I got time, and I play the guitar and drums so I can make some music, but I don’t have the equipement nor knowledge to do it so I don’t think I will ever get to it. I’ve been searching for a name for a long time now, the best thing for me I could come up with is Funk After Death.

The first thing you should do in my eyes, is like some ppl before me noted here: Threaten her with a lawsuit, you don’t have to sue her, just show her how you are going to take her to court and she might just give in then.

If she doesn’t give in, maybe you can take the name of an anarchist that did some crazy shit in history or something like that, or maybe something that mocks the things you are against.

Comment from Nuntius Mortis
Time: April 23, 2008, 12:45 pm

Lynx, never trust the courts in order to give you justice. Courts and justice just doesn’t match.

What’s my opinion? Name yourself Camillo Berneri. He’s a victim of our cause after all ;)

Comment from Nuntius Mortis
Time: April 23, 2008, 12:46 pm

PS: By victim I meant martyr. My mistake :p

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