Expert: Pattie - 8/3/2008

Question
Is it The Beatles or Beatles. The U.S. copyright office uses Beatles. The albums are listed for example Beatles - Abbey Road, not The Beatles - Abbey Road. You will not find the band listed in reference books in the T section, or CDs in stores in the T section.

Answer
Hi Len!

Great question. In this case, you are not looking at the copy-write but the registered trademark. The word "the" is an article of speech, so if you were looking for Beatles music in a store, the article would be dropped, or in some stores, they may have them listed as "Beatles, The".  'The Beatles' name has been a registered trademark since November 23, 1964. The document that they all signed is registering their name as "The Beatles". The actual document reads (this is a small portion of it):  "1. We carry on business jointly as entertainers under the group name of 'The Beatles'. 2. We have duly appointed NEMS Enterprises Limited...to manage our said business affairs throughout the world. 3. The said NEMS Enterprises Limited is entitled to register the name "The Beatles" in the United States of America and its territories for the purposes of a service mark." A version of this same document was also signed for licensing in the UK.

Thanks for the question, Len. I hope this helps!

Peace,
Pattie
8^)