Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: forums - View Single Post - Trademarks

Teresa Edgerton · 19th July 2006, 07:17 PM

In the US, according to current copyright law, your work becomes copyright the moment you set it down in writing. But in order to prove that copyright in a court of law it may be necessary to register it (which is why publishers do so as a matter of course).

I believe the put it in an envelope and mail it to yourself ploy has been proven to be an old wives' tale (though I can't remember where I read that). Someone decided that would be the logical way to go about it; others took up the idea; once it had spread far enough it took on an air of authority. If everyone says a thing, naturally everyone believes it to be true ... except the courts.

It seems to me that the existence of copious notes and early drafts (I almost always save mine) would serve as compelling evidence in a court of law. But the safest way, if you publish something, is to register the copyright.

Trademarks apply to brand names, logos, and the unique design of a packaged product. You can't by the way, copyright or trademark the title of a book (unless that title becomes the brand name of some associated merchandise like a game), but I think you can trademark the name of a line of books or an imprint (even so, I think there is usually some sort of logo involved), because then you are talking about a brand name.

Here's a dictionary definition of the word "trademark":

the name, symbol, figure, letter, word, or mark adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate his goods and to distinguish them from any other

Obviously, not everything used as a trademark (letters of the alphabet) can be registered as such, but I think it's safe to assume that it has to be one of these things before it can be registered as such. Equally obviously, nothing inside a book would serve in this capacity, and the author's name on the cover serves to distinguish it as his/her work, so a trademark would be superfluous -- until and unless that author puts out a line of books by different hands that share something created by the author (for instance, characters, or a unique setting) in which case it becomes a "brand." Then there would be some reason to trademark the name, to distinguish those books that belong to that line from all the other books which don't. The content would still remain under the umbrella of copyright.

19th July 2006, 07:17 PM	#9 (permalink)
Teresa Edgerton Ink-stained Wretch Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: California Posts: 4,613	Re: Trademarks - How Important are they? In the US, according to current copyright law, your work becomes copyright the moment you set it down in writing. But in order to prove that copyright in a court of law it may be necessary to register it (which is why publishers do so as a matter of course). I believe the put it in an envelope and mail it to yourself ploy has been proven to be an old wives' tale (though I can't remember where I read that). Someone decided that would be the logical way to go about it; others took up the idea; once it had spread far enough it took on an air of authority. If everyone says a thing, naturally everyone believes it to be true ... except the courts. It seems to me that the existence of copious notes and early drafts (I almost always save mine) would serve as compelling evidence in a court of law. But the safest way, if you publish something, is to register the copyright. Trademarks apply to brand names, logos, and the unique design of a packaged product. You can't by the way, copyright or trademark the title of a book (unless that title becomes the brand name of some associated merchandise like a game), but I think you can trademark the name of a line of books or an imprint (even so, I think there is usually some sort of logo involved), because then you are talking about a brand name. Here's a dictionary definition of the word "trademark": the name, symbol, figure, letter, word, or mark adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate his goods and to distinguish them from any other Obviously, not everything used as a trademark (letters of the alphabet) can be registered as such, but I think it's safe to assume that it has to be one of these things before it can be registered as such. Equally obviously, nothing inside a book would serve in this capacity, and the author's name on the cover serves to distinguish it as his/her work, so a trademark would be superfluous -- until and unless that author puts out a line of books by different hands that share something created by the author (for instance, characters, or a unique setting) in which case it becomes a "brand." Then there would be some reason to trademark the name, to distinguish those books that belong to that line from all the other books which don't. The content would still remain under the umbrella of copyright.