diff --git a/public/assets/js/memeDraw.js b/public/assets/js/memeDraw.js
index dbfb4f31..9ee0fb0a 100644
--- a/public/assets/js/memeDraw.js
+++ b/public/assets/js/memeDraw.js
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ var fontSize = 28;
 var topText = document.getElementById('top-text');
 var bottomText = document.getElementById('bottom-text');
 var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
-var claimNameInput = document.getElementById("file-name-input");
 
 // create the canvas
 img.onload = function() {
diff --git a/public/assets/js/memePublish.js b/public/assets/js/memePublish.js
index 3fc50965..d830bb85 100644
--- a/public/assets/js/memePublish.js
+++ b/public/assets/js/memePublish.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ var uploader = new SocketIOFileUpload(socket);
 var stagedFiles = null;
 var license = 'Creative Commons';
 var nsfw = false;
-var claimName;
+var nameInput = document.getElementById("publish-name");
 
 function dataURItoBlob(dataURI) {
     // convert base64/URLEncoded data component to raw binary data held in a string
@@ -31,8 +31,7 @@ function startPublish() {
 	//download the image 
     var dataUrl = canvas.toDataURL('image/jpeg');  // canvas defined in memeDraw.js
 	var blob = dataURItoBlob(dataUrl)
-	claimName = claimNameInput.value;  // claimNameInput.value defined in memeDraw.js
-	var fileName = claimNameInput.value + ".jpg";
+	var fileName = nameInput.value + ".jpg";  //note: need to dynamically grab type
 	var file = new File([blob], fileName, {type: 'image/jpeg', lastModified: Date.now()});
 	console.log(file);
 	stageAndPublish(file); 
@@ -59,6 +58,16 @@ function createProgressBar(element, size){
 }
 
 function stageAndPublish(file) {
+	var name = nameInput.value;
+	var invalidCharacters = /[^\w,-]/.exec(name);
+	// validate 'name'
+	if (invalidCharacters) {
+		alert(invalidCharacters + ' is not allowed. A-Z, a-z, 0-9, "_" and "-" only.');
+		return;
+	} else if (name.length < 1) {
+		alert("You must enter a name for your claim");
+		return;
+	}
 	// stage files 
 	stagedFiles = [file]; // stores the selected file for 
 	// make sure a file was selected
@@ -80,8 +89,9 @@ function stageAndPublish(file) {
 				alert("Only .png, .jpeg, .gif, and .mp4 files are currently supported");
 				break;
 		}
+	} else {
+			alert("Please select a file");
 	}
-
 }
 
 // update the publish status
@@ -91,7 +101,7 @@ function updatePublishStatus(msg){
 
 /* socketio-file-upload listeners */
 uploader.addEventListener('start', function(event){
-	event.file.meta.name = claimName;
+	event.file.meta.name = nameInput.value;
 	event.file.meta.license = license;
 	event.file.meta.nsfw = nsfw;
 	event.file.meta.type = stagedFiles[0].type;
diff --git a/views/partials/memeFodderMaker.handlebars b/views/partials/memeFodderMaker.handlebars
index e7a84d30..d9dcfd54 100644
--- a/views/partials/memeFodderMaker.handlebars
+++ b/views/partials/memeFodderMaker.handlebars
@@ -14,13 +14,13 @@
 		<textarea id="direct-link-holder" hidden="true">No URL yet</textarea>
 		<div id="publish-active-area">
 			<p>
-				<label for="top-text">Meme:</label><br/>
+				<label>Meme:</label><br/>
 				<input id="top-text" type="text" value="Hello" /><br/>
 				<input id="bottom-text" type="text" value="world!" /><br/>
 			</p>
 			<p>
-				<label for="meme-name">Claim Name:</label></br>
-				<input id="file-name-input" type="text" value="My-Claim-Name" />
+				<label for="publish-name">Claim Name:</label></br>
+				<input id="publish-name" type="text" value="My-Claim-Name" />
 			</p>
 			<p>
 				<button onclick="startPublish()">Save and Publish</button>