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THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
What Is the Name of a Piano?
This Question Is One of the Most Vital Before the Piano Industry—It Strikes at the Very Founda-
tion of Every Trade Edifice Built Upon Name Value—There Must Be a Definite and Clear Posi-
tion by Legally Constituted Tribunals as to What Is the Name of a Piano, for If Name Piracy Be
Permitted Then the Property Interests of Individuals and Corporations Become Seriously En-
dangered—Some of the Prominent Men of the Industry Affirm That the Name of a Piano Is
the Patronymic of the Man Who Founded the Business—Testimony Bears Out This Definition,
but It Is Still an Unsettled Question and Until There Is a Complete Definition There Will Be
Trading Upon the Name and Reputation of Others One of the Interesting Questions of the Day.
W
HAT is the name of a piano, and, having determined the
real name of the instrument, what are the dealers of this
great big country of ours going to do to protect that name from
encroachments by illegitimate competition?
The question what is the name of a piano seems ordinary
enough at the first flush; and yet when we debate upon it is must
be admitted that it is one of the most vital subjects affecting the
future of the music trade industry; still at present it is hazy,
undefined and surrounded by the fogs of deceit.
When there is a Steinway piano, how can there be a Steinway
Bros> piano without confusing the two?
A Weber piano, how can there be a Weber & Co. piano with-
out serious injustice being done to the Weber?
A Chickering piano, how can there be a Chickering & Co.
piano without confusion existing in the minds of the public as to
which is the real Chickering?
The more we look at this piano name question, the bigger and
broader it becomes and the more it interlocks with the future of the
whole piano industry.
What is the name of a piano?
Some of the best known men of the industry have not hesitated
to make documentary statements to the effect that in their opinion
the patronymic of the man who founded the business settles the
name—that is, the name of the piano.
In other words, if it be Weber, then the piano is known as the
Weber piano no matter whether there may be prefixes or suffixes,
such as initials—Piano Co.—Company—Bros.—Mfg. Co.—or other
words.
„
The name of the instrument in concrete form is known as the
Weber.
Now, if an individual bearing the same family name starts a
business and puts forth a piano bearing his name, where does the
individual or corporation who has spent hundreds of thousands of
dollars in the upbuilding of an industrial property stand?
Their property is jeopardised and the property of every man
may be threatened under similar conditions.
Commercially and industrially a name may sound large—it may
cut a big figure in the artistic or commercial world, but along comes
another man bearing a similar name and starts in business—how
does his work affect the values cjeated by the money and efforts of
others ?
Can anyone argue for one moment that he is not profiting by
the combined capital and energy of other people?
In the piano trade the piracy of a name is easy because there
are men who will put forth instruments bearing similar names to
those appearing on the fallboards of the old historic instruments
and claim that they are the simon-pure article and the first is but
an imitation and that the business has been formed into "a trust."
Now, when such conditions exist, and we know that they do
exist, because the papers containing advertisements of the near-
name pianos are to be found all over this country, then there is only
one protection for the names which admittedly have great com-
mercial value, and that is a legal protection.
The courts must define and settle the question, What is the name
of a piano? before property can be safe and investment secure in the
piano business.
Name piracy has existed and will exist until there is some legal
enactment to settle this whole name status once and for all. Then
the manufacturers have some basis upon which to build a stable
foundation for their business.
There is so much in the piano business which smacks of trading
upon the name and reputation of others that it does not seem as if
after all these years the ethics of the trade had reached a very ele-
vated position.
What is the name of a piano?
A good many men in the retail and manufacturing line may
be caught red-handed because unquestionably some of them have
violated the moral laws of the country.
Name protection is something in which the entire trade is in-
terested, and it is a matter of record that the single name, indicating
the family of the piano maker, is. the name by which the people
designate the instrument.
Visit any theater in the United States, and there are thousands
of them, and millions of people who read the theater program,
and yet can you find one which contains in any advertisement more
than the single name of the piano advertised ?
For instance, will you find the term "Steinway & Sons' piano
used exclusively in this theater"—the Weber Piano Co. piano used,
or Sohmer & Co. ?
No, it will be simply the words the Ste'invay, the Weber,
the Sohmer, and the theaters have been carrying on this kind of
education for years. The same applies to all concert programs as
well.
Ask anyone what is the name of the piano in their homes and
will they repeat the full corporate name appearing upon the fall-
board of the instrument ?
Not by a piano-sight—they will simply designate the instru-
ment by the family patronymic and by nothing else.
That is the name of the piano.
Prefixes and suffixes are excluded.
Then when we have established this fact clearly in the trade
mind, what next follows ?
^
Legal protection—a clear definition by the courts as to w^at is
the real name of a piano, and this question is of absorbing interest
to the entire trade of this country.
It is imperative, therefore, that the question, What is the name
of a piano? be answered by the courts in an unequivocal manner;
for if name piracy be permitted then what value is there in piano
names?
Individuals and corporations who have labored for years and
have expended vast sums in the upbuilding of name values are face
to face with a situation which is unjust from every viewpoint.
Their preserves may be poached upon to an alarming extent
and their property values greatly depreciated until this question,
What is the name of a piano? be settled clearly. There are troublous
times ahead.
This subject strikes at the very sub-cellar of trade stability,
and, without a clear definition, name values go. tumbling.