Indie Rock, 'Snail Mail' & Trademark Law

[DudeAsInCool]

Postal Service Tale: Indie Rock, Snail Mail and Trademark Law

By BEN SISARIO

Published: November 6, 2004

In honor of their working method they called themselves the Postal Service. Their album, "Give Up," was released by the Seattle-based Sub Pop Records in early 2003 and became an indie-rock hit, eventually selling almost 400,000 copies, the label's second biggest seller ever, after Nirvana's "Bleach." Then they heard from the real Postal Service, in the form of a cease-and-desist letter....

The outcome was as unusual as the band itself: this week the United States Postal Service - the real one, as in stamps and letters - signed an agreement with Sub Pop granting a free license to use the name in exchange for working to promote using the mail.

You can read the full artilce in the NYTimes.com:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/arts/mus...artner=homepage

[method77]

great story