Hello all , Since many of you have more experience than me in this I would like to ask you a question.Me and some friends are planning to make a hobby company which will produce games for fun at first and with a vision for better things in the future. My problem is the copyrights part of the whole thing.I was wondering.Say we name the company "foo".Or even the 1st game.First thing I do is search the name of the game/company in google to see if it is not already taken.But just doing that won't register the name to me will it eh? What is the legal part I have to do to register a name of a company/game .., or anything for that matter since I guess it must be the same ,to me?The problem gets more complicated since with me living in greece and being a greek citizen I have no idea which international copyrights laws apply to me and how I can register the names internationally. Any help on this matter would be really appreciated.Thanks in advance .

Well, first of all, you're not looking for copyrights, but trademarks.

I don't know about international or Greek trademark law, but here in the US, you don't NEED to register a trademark (trademarks that aren't registered have that TM symbol instead of an R in a circle), but registering helps to establish that you were there first. For your company, just filing the paperwork necessary to make it a legal business should be enough to establish a claim on the name.

One important note: trademarks only apply to the field you register them in (in your case, electronic entertainment or software or something like that)...of course, large companies seem to like to toss that rule out the window whenever convenient...

Note that I'm not a lawyer, blah, blah, blah. I'd suggest registering your business and getting a game or two under your belt before worrying too much about trademark issues, though.

Yeah I know but my question would be registering my business in the greek office for business registration would not consider me being registered internationally , right?

Guess maybe I should ask a lawyer about that.

As for being a little early to worry about that you might be right , but I think that these things should be taken care of as fast as possible , I may be wrong though.

Also thanks for clearing out the Trademark - Copyright difference for me :)

Using Google and typing in "Greece trademark office", I got this back: http://www.obi.gr/online/

I hope you can read it, because I can't. :)
I know from the reverse that my trademarking of a US company does not apply internationally. You can pay for an international search, to make sure nobody else has the name/mark. Googling is not a trademark search, but at least you can knock off any names you had that are already out there with web presence.

Thanks a lot ellis.It never crossed my mind to search it in google , no matter how stupid it might sound -.-

Still it is quite helpful a site.The difference is that I wondered about international trademarks e.t.c.

I guess from the things I hear and see things are quite blurry on this field

EDIT: you could have read the site :) , it has an english option at the upper left corner.

Greece participates in many of the international copyright treaties.

Your content is protected under copyright law internationally the moment it is created.

Although you may need to register with the government before you are able to sue somebody for infringement, you still have the protections and rights automatically.

Quote: Original post by Fukushousha
Me and some friends are planning to make a hobby company which will produce games for fun at first and with a vision for better things in the future.

You can't make a hobby company (or rather it would be pointless to do so). I think you mean you want to form a hobby team.

Making a company and making a team are not the same thing. Making a company requires that you pay money to register a company, then pay an accountant every year to file accounts for you. This is pointless if you are just making a game for fun. If, when it is finished, it turns out to be really good, then you could set up a company to sell it.

Company name - you can't protect a company name (trademark) unless you are actually trading. That means you need to either set up and pay for a registered company or be registered as self employed. Then you actually have to trade (do business).

Conclusion
It is far too early to be worrying about trademarks/company names. Make your hobby game as a hobby. Put your real name on it instead of a made up "company" name. Then, when it is finished (and if it is good) you can set up a company.

Yeah you are exactly right obscure.I know I am running forward with that thinking.Anyway I need know no more.Hobby team was the right term to use , later on we will see :)

Thanks to everybody who informed me on a matter I was really not informed at all