Do I have to write to every music company and ask for their permission for putting their song as a footnote in? Great article. Thank you for the explanations. I'm amazed if any companies really have opposed the usage of their brands as verbs like Hoovering, Xeroxing, Googling synecdoches? Surely this would be way worse publicity than whatever the original usage was within reason obviously! The pointed avoidance of using brand names or instances where they've used fictional alternatives can be painfully jarring when reading fiction.
Unless it's used for comic effect that is. This is a great article. But I have one unanswered question. Do these rules change when you convert the written word into a filmed format and put it on TV? And what about referencing A famous rock band and their song title when used as a historical fact. If it is part of well known rock history, does that become public domain to talk about? Hi, great article!
I mention the Cubs and specific players and events. I want to include the Cubs name in the subtitle of the book and include illustrations that depict the Cubs logo by itself and on jerseys. Is this allowed without permission? This is really helpful, but I wonder what limitations there are on referencing a "brand" that is another creative property. I want to use 2 guitar model names, more specifically the Fender Jazzmaster and a Fender Jazz Bass in my book.
The two characters own the guitars and don't speak bad of it. I guess this same issue is comperable to car models. Is that still fair use? I plan to write a comedy set in a post apocalyptic world, and would like to include a moment where the main character discovers the ruins of an old gaming shop. Within this shop is a small cult who worship Mario, using the games as their "sacred text.
What about writing a book fiction about cyber bullying. But when saying that someone used facebook to cyber bully someone else- that definitely can be construed as a negative use of the brand.
And just saying generic "social media" would get vague and repetitive. Especially if they are being bullied across multiple types of social media. Can I have Youtube in my book? It is a huge part, so I want to be sure before I continue. I'm writing a story about a street racer from LA who owns a Nissan GT-R, and everyone else in the book owns a car from some company. The bad guy owns two Porsches, the main character's "trainer" owns multiple cars. Is it safe to use all of those?
Can I have characters in my book dress up as famous people at a fancy dress party and talk in character? In my novel, is it fine to write that my characters are drinking Chartreuse? Chartreuse as in the liqueur. Speaking of brand names, I have mentioned one of my characters listening to a certain song released in I have explicitly mentioned the name of the song and the artist.
Would that be a problem? Can I leave it like that or do I change it "was listening to one of his favorite numbers"? Thanks for writing this post, Mark. It was an area of uncertainty for me and you really covered all the bases.
Much appreciated. I half understand. I want to put car brands and specific cars in my book, but am I allowed to? And do I have to use the trademark tm symbol with it?
Home Disclaimer About. Writers frequently ask whether they can mention brand name products and services in their fiction. The answer is "yes," provided that you take some common sense precautions.
Indeed, if it were unlawful to include brand names in fiction, countless product references in Bret Easton Ellis's novel Glamorama would have been expurgated, and David Foster Wallace could never have described in Infinite Jest an alternative present where large corporations purchase naming rights to the calendar years e.
The four areas of law to consider in connection with brand names are "trademark infringement," "trademark dilution," "trademark tarnishment,"and "defamation. For example, if you were the manufacturer of aluminum foil and decided to name your foil "Glad," the Glad Products Company, manufacturers of Glad plastic wrap and Glad trash bags would likely think your use of the term is an infringement.
Even if Glad Products Company doesn't manufacture aluminum foil, aluminum foil is sufficiently close to plastic wrap to create a likelihood that some shoppers would be confused as to whether your aluminum foil is manufactured, licensed, or endorsed by the makers of Glad plastic wrap.
Keeping this principle in mind, it is evident why fiction rarely gives rise to trademark claims. He is, in fact, using "Glad" to refer to Glad Products' own goods. Trademark lawyers call this "nominative fair use," and it does not constitute infringement. For example, trademark owners have fits when writers of fiction or non-fiction use their brand names as generic terms for products or services. Usually, the dispute goes no farther than that.
Writers can avoid even mild reprimands of this sort by respectfully capitalizing brand names. If, for example, you falsely depict a brand name product as being dangerous or defective, a manufacturer could be heard to complain. Ultimately, the manufacturer should have to prove that some readers actually understood the disparaging depiction to be a statement of fact, not fiction, but there is seldom an artistic necessity to test that line. Trademark "tarnishment" is a kind of hybrid between trademark dilution and defamation.
Such claims arise when a non-owner uses another's trademark in highly disparaging or offensive contexts. The best-known tarnishment case was a successful claim by the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders who owned a registered trademark against the makers of the pornographic movie, Debbie Does Dallas, in which the actresses were depicted in the cheerleaders' trademarked uniforms, to the extent that they were depicted in anything at all.
The Appeals Court's famous at least to trademark lawyers decision is here. Notwithstanding the Debbie Does Dallas decision, some uses of trademarks in ways that the owner regard as highly disparaging may be successfully defended as parody, as described in this online article by Leslie Lott and Brett Hutton. A sensible precaution: if you are depicting brand name products or companies in an unsavory light in your novel or short story, it is often prudent to invent a fictional brand or a fictional company.
If there is a compelling artistic reason to use real products and real companies in contexts that arguably disparage them, it is wise to seek advice, prior to publication, from your publisher's attorney -- or an attorney of your own -- on how best to minimize the legal risks.
The movie industry has always been exceedingly cautious about the use of brand names and the names of real people in films. For example, the director Danny Boyle, told the press that he caused Mercedes Benz logos to be digitally removed from cars in his film Slum Dog Millionaire when the manufacturer objected to the depiction of its cars in Bombay slum settings.
It is difficult to imagine a successful claim arising from such innocuous use, but movie studios are unwilling to run any legal risks that could conceivably lead to an injunction interfering with timely distribution of their films.
More frequently, of course, companies pay the movie studios for product placement. There are even isolated isolated reports of paid product placement in novels. I can only speculate that the movie industry's obsession with the depiction of brands in fictional works is the source of the largely unfounded concerns about the depiction of brand names in written fiction.
Again, the use brand names in fiction is not a sleep-depriving issue. It would be obsessive and stylistically unpalatable to use the R-in-a-circle symbol or the TM symbol every time you refer to a brand name in your text.
And, as long as you do not write falsely and disparagingly about real brands and the companies who manufacture them, you are unlikely ever to run into a problem. Anonymous June 3, at PM.
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Word games. Can I mention brands in my novel? Can I mention Snapchat in my book? Can I mention another company on my website? Can you mention brands in a song? Can you name songs after brands? Can you name a song after a person? Can you use a celebrity name in a song? Is impersonating a celebrity illegal? Is it legal to name a song after a celebrity? Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
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Before editing, develop a plan. How Novelists Can Blog. Kristen Stieffel says: October 27, at PM. Natalie B says: November 4, at AM. Kristen Stieffel says: November 4, at PM. Kyle meidlinger says: March 25, at PM. Kristen Stieffel says: March 25, at PM. Lola C says: May 27, at AM. Kristen Stieffel says: June 9, at PM. Gillian says: April 8, at PM. Kristen Stieffel says: April 8, at PM. Marissa says: November 17, at PM. Kristen Stieffel says: November 18, at AM.
Oh, yes, all of these are totally fine. Cris T. Kristen Stieffel says: November 27, at AM. Jodie Hall says: January 25, at AM. Kristen Stieffel says: January 25, at PM. Sierra says: May 26, at AM. Kristen Stieffel says: May 26, at PM. Linda says: November 26, at PM. Thank you! Kristen Stieffel says: November 26, at PM. Yes, all of those references are allowed. Linda says: November 30, at AM. Kristen Stieffel says: November 30, at PM. Ask any time! Kristen Stieffel says: March 16, at PM.
Marion Day says: May 3, at PM. Kristen Stieffel says: May 3, at PM. Thank-you so much. What about Swoogle as a made-up name. It would fit my story. Kristen Stieffel says: May 4, at AM. Jill says: October 21, at AM. Kristen Stieffel says: October 24, at PM. Janet says: June 3, at PM. Kristen Stieffel says: June 5, at AM. Keegan Allison says: August 17, at PM.
S sorry for any typos. Kristen Stieffel says: September 17, at PM. Haley Bloom says: August 31, at AM. Haley — Thanks for your kind comments! Haley says: September 18, at PM. Josh Allred says: October 4, at PM. Kristen Stieffel says: October 6, at AM. Isis Faison says: September 14, at AM. Kristen Stieffel says: February 5, at PM. Sounds like an interesting story, too! David M. Rachel says: March 12, at PM.
Kristen Stieffel says: March 15, at PM. Helen says: March 15, at PM. Kristen Stieffel says: March 19, at PM. No worries. Anonymous says: April 22, at PM.
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