No Strings Attached

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7 Responses to “Trademark vs. Copyright”

1. Elayne Riggs says:

   June 25, 2004 at 9:47 am

   Great post, Kath! Robin’s forever explaining this difference to people, it drives him crazy when they misuse the terms. His favorite expression regarding this is “you can’t copyright an idea.” It’s one reason why I’m so disappointed in Ray Bradbury’s reaction to Michael Moore doing a play on words for his movie title. It certainly evokes Bradbury’s title, which I should think is a good thing since the forthcoming reissue of the book is bound to sell better now, but it’s essentially a pun on a physical law, the same law that Bradbury decided to use for his title. Will the laws of physics be hiring an attorney?

2. EClark1849 says:

   June 25, 2004 at 12:35 pm

   Hmmm? So “Superman” as a title is taken , but if I called my book “The Superman Syndrome”, I’m in the clear?

3. Tom Galloway says:

   June 25, 2004 at 5:27 pm

   As long as the “Superman” in the title isn’t a reference to the DC Comics character, yep, you are. (i.e. “The Superman Syndrome: a book about how overacheivers react to failure” no prob. “The Superman Syndrome: Why I think I can leap tall buildings at a single bound and no one recognizes me when I take off my glasses due to reading lots of Superman comics” Problem.

4. Jonathan Stover says:

   June 25, 2004 at 11:10 pm

   I love Ray’s work (as it turns out, so much so that I just referred to him by his first name even though I’ve never met him). But as someone on another board noted, this is a man who has a novel named Something Wicked This Way Comes. And, off the top of my head, stories called “I Sing the Body Electric!” and “The Golden Apples of the Sun.” Yeah, they’re quotes and not reworked titles of other people’s work. But there’s also the Mars stories with famous literary characters…and the story in which the protagonist goes back in time to make sure Hemingway dies in the plane crash and not by suicide…and…well, anyway, I’m not sure I have a point here. I think Moore meant the title as an honest homage to a book about tyranny and stupidity, in the same honest and non-sarcastic way that Bradbury has homaged the works and lives of others in his own work. None of it affects my love of Bradbury’s work (or Moore’s), but I do find the battle uncomfortable.

   Cheers, Jon

5. Rachel says:

   June 27, 2004 at 10:19 pm

   “On a costuming board I belong to, someone wanted to start up a costuming business for mostly renaissance costumes and costumes inspired by films and call it something based on a place mentioned in Lord of the Rings and wanted to know about the copyright on the name. Considering I know one book shop called Bagg End and pub called The Prancing Pony, I really don

6. eclark1849 says:

   June 28, 2004 at 12:49 pm

   >

   Actually Tom, since that’s really about me and not about the DC character either, I think it would be fair use. Now if I wrote a story about how I was really Superman, that might be a legal minefield.

7. Teed says:

   September 16, 2006 at 1:25 am

   Bradbury has no reason to complain. Shortly after Farhenheit 9/11 came out, I saw a best seller list for independent bookstores that had Farhenheit 451 on it. If it weren’t for Moore, there’s no way that would have happened to a book published over 30 years ago. Goes to show all publicity is good.