To what extent are book titles copyrighted?

[WriterDoug]

I will be able to keep this post brief.

We can avoid topics involving the use of identical or similar novel titles to pre-existing ones, using song lyrics, or quoting authors within a work. My situation is perhaps a bit different.

Basically I have numerous chapter titles that are, in fact, the names of well-known novels. My only intention was to come up with a clever title that was both relevant to the content of the chapter and form a connection to a rich, pre-existing literary tradition.

My question to you is this: does this sort of situation still bare the danger of copyright infringement? Let us say for example that a chapter is entitled, "Brave New World," but the chapter does not relate to the novel in any way. The phrase "brave new world" is also not terribly unusual. Can you actually copyright 2-4 words? Does it matter on the complexity or length of the title itself?

If, ultimately, this proves to be a problem then I can rename the chapters. Hardly a challenge, I say

I was just honestly trying to make those connections.

cheers,
WD

[Teresa Edgerton]

Book titles are not copyrighted. When, say, the title of a book is applied to a line of products associated with it (games, other books, etc.) it may be trademarked, but otherwise book titles are not protected and they can be used again and again.

So you have nothing to worry about.

[WriterDoug]

Whew, thanks! That is great to know.

I suppose this thread no longer has a need to exist.

cheers,
WD

[j. d. worthington]

Not, I think, with 2-4 word titles, and certainly not with common phrases. There may, however, be the rare exception. Ellison's I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, for instance, is such a case, as I recall -- a film was made with that title, that bore no other relation to the story, and -- again, going on an old memory here -- this was so distinctive and identified with Ellison's name, that it could not be used without his permission. But in the vast majority of cases, this isn't something to worry about.

[Teresa Edgerton]

This from the US Copyright Office:

How do I copyright a name, title, slogan or logo?
Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks.

I'm not familiar with the case you mention, JD, but unless Ellison registered the phrase as a trademark, it doesn't matter how closely the title is associated with him -- it's not protected under the law. Of course there could be other pressures not to use that particular title for a particular project. If, for instance, whoever was distributing the movie decided they didn't want to alienate the very viewers they were trying to attract.

[pyan]

Quite apart from anything else, Huxley himself pinched that particular phrase from a certain Mr Shakespeare.

"O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beautious mankind is!
O brave new world
That has such people in't!"

Miranda, in The Tempest, Act V, Scene I.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton

I'm not familiar with the case you mention, JD, but unless Ellison registered the phrase as a trademark, it doesn't matter how closely the title is associated with him -- it's not protected under the law. Of course there could be other pressures not to use that particular title for a particular project. If, for instance, whoever was distributing the movie decided they didn't want to alienate the very viewers they were trying to attract.

Thanks for the clarification, Teresa... As I said, I'm going on a very old memory here, and it may well have been registered as a trademark by that point.

[WriterDoug]

Miranda, in The Tempest, Act V, Scene I.

Funny you bring this to my attention, for I have read that play but would have never remembered such a line!

cheers,
WD

[Teresa Edgerton]

Trademarks are registered to identify a line of products, JD, not a single item. So I strongly doubt that was the case.

However, a thought occurred to me overnight. I haven't read the Ellison story -- famous as it is -- but if the line appears within the story, and is phrased exactly that way, it might be considered copyright just like any other distinctive line in a work of fiction. But then it would be copyright as part of the contents of the story, not because it's the title.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton

Trademarks are registered to identify a line of products, JD, not a single item. So I strongly doubt that was the case.

However, a thought occurred to me overnight. I haven't read the Ellison story -- famous as it is -- but if the line appears within the story, and is phrased exactly that way, it might be considered copyright just like any other distinctive line in a work of fiction. But then it would be copyright as part of the contents of the story, not because it's the title.

I wish I could locate the original article where I read about this, but it was literally more than a decade ago, and a lot of my stuff is still in storage; this may be among all that. Yes, the line is in the story, though in the text it is made into two sentences, divided with a period, so I'm not sure that would apply....

[Teresa Edgerton]

Maybe you can find some reference to it online, then. I tried, but could find nothing about it, though other Ellison lawsuits and controversies were mentioned. You would probably have better luck; knowing some of the particulars you might think of some keywords to search for that would never occur to me.

And a clarification of the exact circumstances would be very helpful, since this is a topic that does come up from time to time. The US Copyright Office obviously knows what is talking about when it says that titles and names can't be copyrighted, so there must have been other factors in play -- and that's just the sort of thing that it would be useful for the writers here to know.

Or, another afterthought ... it may have been a suit that never actually came to court. He does have something of a reputation for filing lawsuits of, um, questionable merit.

[Interference]

Two words: Star Wars.

Two more: Ronald Reagan.

Sorry for joining the discussion so late, but the failure of Mr Lucas to protect his title, trade marked though it surely was, might be considered a precedent.

[j. d. worthington]

Ah, glad someone revived this thread, as I'd recently come across a reprint of an article that dealt with the one I mentioned earlier. This relates to the case where someone wanted to use the title "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" for a film. The relevant passage is as follows:

"A film producer... once tried to rip it off as the title of a horror flick he was contemplating but was stopped when the Federal District Court of Los Angeles said that: while it's impossible to copyright a title, if one can prove ongoing substantial claim to financial stake in such a title, it can be protected..." (Harlan Ellison, Dreams with Sharp Teeth, p. 50).

Now, that article was originally published in 1980; the law may have changed since then, or there may be other factors here. But this was the case I was thinking of -- I recall coming across a different source on it a very long time ago, but unfortunately have not been able to recall where or to find it again. I'd have thought that Lucas and Star Wars would have fit this, but perhaps, it being a fairly common set of words, and having been used during the Reagan years for other purposes, it may not fit....

Still, even if such is still the case... it's a very unusual scenario, and not something likely to crop up, I'd think....

[iansales]

Walter Jon Williams had issues with the title of his novel HardWired. IIRC, a toy company contacted him and asked him for permission to use the phrase for a range of action figures. He agreed that they could. Meanwhile, Wired magazine started up a publishing imprint called HardWired... and their lawyers sent cease & desist letters to the toy company... WJW pointed out the phrase belonged to him. So they sued him...

I've had a quick google but I can't find any notice of the case's findings. However, HardWired is apparently back in print, so I suppose WJW won.