I'm just wondering what's going to happen when absolutely every single name, word, phrase, and slogan in every language known to mankind has been trademarked or copyrighted. We won't even be able to sue each other because of clearance issues with the legal papers.

Fortunately you can't trademark single common words. *whew*. Even Microsoft was unable to secure a trademark for "Windows", so we're still safe on that one. If someone tries to trademark a phrase that is already in common usage they would probably be denied. Part of the trademark process includes polling random people and asking what that phrase associates to in their minds. If a significant portion of them associate it with something other than the company or product that the trademark is applied for then it is denied. This is a continual process; if a trademark later starts losing it's association then the trademark may be discontinued.

Single words and short phrases aren't even eligible for copyright protection.

Single words and short phrases aren't even eligible for copyright protection.

I always thought the band "Chicago" had some kind of trademark on their name. Perhaps it was just the logo that was protected.

PumiceT, copyright and trademark are two very different things. You can trademark a logo even if that logo consists of a single word or even a single letter. It's the design that is trademarked, not the word. A work of art may also be copyrighted, but once again, it will be the design that gets the protection, not the words it contains.

I always thought ACID made perfect sense because in a foundry, you would use acid to break down materials and that’s what ACID does, it breaks music down into loops and one-shots. Very clever. I have always wondered where Vegas came from.

~jr

I'd love to suggest or think it went that deep, but trust me... it didn't. :-)
I can recall marketing discussions about how to use things like "Ph," or "Rx" or "H3O" as relates to ACID.
You guys should have seen Comdex when ACID was first launched. They had "musicians" (actors) dressed up like regular club musicians carrying protest signs saying "Support real musicians: Hate ACID" and "ACID sucks" etc. What was magical was that everyone thought the protests were real and the convention was up in arms.
They had them picketing the booth, too. On EVERY street corner near the tradeshow, ACID was painted on the sidewalks, it was such a huge product launch that it made the papers. A lot of folks don't know it, but ACID set a huge revolution into the music biz at the time. It scared a lot of people. When David Was used ACID to score the Academy Awards, not using real musicians, it really created a mess with the union, the show, etc.
Oddly enough, the choice of the name "ACID" prevented it from being used in schools for obvious reasons....hence the later product "Sooper Dooper Music Looper" that is aimed at schools for children.
Vegas was less glamorous, with Buddy, the bowling guy as the original but short-lived mascot. There is still a "Buddy" bowling shirt around here somewhere. Be glad the code name was Vegas. There was a companion application whose name I can't mention, but it was related to a chili sauce. Imagine telling clients you work with "Poblano" or "Pequin." :-)

Doesn't someone have protection of their name in their field? IE I can't make a OS called Windows, even though the word "windows" is common, but I can make a game (or album, movie, etc) called Windows & MS can't touch me.

MS ended up eventually getting a trademark registration for "Windows", but it took them a loooong time. It's what's known as a "weak trademark" meaning that it's not unique, so subject to all kinds of challenges.

That's why you see names like Frogen Yozurt, Haägen-Dasz etc.

"Can't touch me" is a brave thing to say with MS nearby. :O)

If one of their paragraph pushers thinks there is even a microscopic risk of you crating trademark confusion in any area where MS is involved, you may have to spend really good money to defend yourself.

I hear that Michael Buffer, the ring announcer, is constantly suing people for using his phrase: "Let's get ready to rumble!"

ACID 1 roll out was great! I still have the "ACID : Kills Polkas on Contact" t-shirt and all those bumper stickers we made. It was a really revolutionary product at the time with a big push. (Cheap compared to what the big boys of Comdex would spend.) I remember hearing the stories of the marketing guys running around Vegas using chaulk to draw the protest propaganda. Joe Walsh played at the ACID party if I remember.

Vegas : SAW was developed by a company in Las Vegas. The developer of SAW is legendary for his "character", so it made sense. Why we couldn't come up with something different, well.... be thankful. Could of been worse, it could be calle Fransico<g>

We had another internal one called Boston. Anybody guess what that was going to be?

Peter

We had another internal one called

It was a piece of software that would let you put out an album once every 10 years. It also had this really cool feature that made Smokin' album covers with, like, spaceships and lazers and stuff.

BOSTON !!! .....

I remember that one...

Wasn't that the secret Sonic Foundry Special Effects project ??? It was an application where you chose a clip in the Vegas timeline and then right clicked on it.....then from the drop down menu, you could choose,

OPEN IN BOSTON

And then the BOSTON app would launch...and you could apply all sorts of FX like rotoscoping, advanced media generator, the NEON PARTICLE generator, the ULTRA CASINO DV blue/green screen compositing tool....oh yes and it had all those sub folders where you could choose to apply all those After Effects and Photoshop compatible plug ins. All the while you'd see an instant update in the Vegas window without a re-render.

Man, that was a great program. Too bad they had to scrap it cause back then, they said there's no way an app like that could run on the 450-600 Ghtz Pentium 2's. They said they'd have to wait for something like a 3.0 gig CPU or something.

Not sure what happened with that...but hey, it was a cool beta anyways...

Wasn't Boston the code name for SoFo's midi program?

I'm hoping it's going to evolve into MIDI Forge.
Rednroll's recommended name for Rednroll's recommended app.
Sony's got a killer video package, a killer loop package, and a killer wave editor. So, what's it missing?? A killer MIDI package maybe?

Just a thought.

Mario

I've never been to Boston in the fall!

I know everyone loves the names now, but I think they may be an obstacle to the success of the products. When you mention Vegas or Acid, people immediately think about something very different than the products themselves.

People identify Sound Forge more quickly and clearly than Vegas or Acid.

I'd rather see the product family named Sound Forge/Video Forge/Music Forge. That would simultaneously clarify the products' 1)function 2) relationship and 3) heritage and make explanation unnecessary. (Just my 2 kolpecks.)

-bd

I agree with the "Forge" family name.
Two of the things that turned me off at the begining where the wacky interface (which I now love), and the name "Vegas" which reminds me of a "Video Game", not a profesional NLE.

Sound Forge/Video Forge/Music Forge...Hmmm, yes, well, that sounds just lovely doesn’t it. (The previous sentence contains an ironical subtext that may only be obvious to audio users).

...At least they didn’t call any of their products ‘fruity loops’...That is a very good piece of software that a great many music industry people ridicule and dismiss out of hand simply on the basis of its name.

I dare ya to go over to the Vegas-Audio forum and suggest the name should be changed to Video Forge.
Vegas is a very good multi-track recording app.

Mario

I agree, it's an amazing multi-track app. I'd just like to see more people buy it and use it for any reason at all, and I think (OK, I guess) that clearer, more specific naming would attract a larger user base.

Also, to be honest, I can't think of a single, clear, catchy word that encompasses both video editing and multitrack audio. Maybe sell the same product under two different names, just to emphasize both strengths, i.e. Sound Forge/Multitrack Forge/Video Forge/Music Forge. It's dull but clear.

AV Forge.

Yeah, AV Forge covers it, but then it sounds like it has something to do with an overhead projector. But it does cover the territory.

I think Acid is a very cool, evocative name. Sound Forge is a good functional name. Vegas...eh.