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Quotes and Titles, Law-wise. Books vs TV shows

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Calliea

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Some time ago I bumped into a topic here talking about the usage of quotes and song titles in books. The general consensus and advice was: don't.

Don't quote the songs, don't name the chapters after songs, don't use titles, don't use quotes, generally stay away or you might get sued.

Now today I've seen something that made me wonder. The new episode of Castle was titled "Smells Like Teen Spirit". This a phrase that obviously connects to the song by Nirvana which, afaik, does not belong to a public domain? Even if, it's not the only example - it's enough to take a look at TV show episode listings to find plenty of song titles/quotes used as episode names.

So my question is - do the producers go out of their way to get a permission to do it? Seems pointless as episode titles aren't very important in TV shows. They're more like little winks to the audience that most people won't even notice.

Or are TV shows somehow privileged and can do it while book authors can't?
 
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gothicangel

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Or are TV shows somehow privileged and can do it while book authors can't?

I'd imagine (as they have multi-million dollar studios footing the bill) that they've contacted the relevant copyright holder, and paid for the right to use it (if applicable.)
 

MookyMcD

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There are no short answers to any of these questions (fair use, if that's what is at play, is a four part test and each part needs to be looked at in terms of your specific use), and that's not the only thing to consider. I did a three part blog series (click the law for writers section of my blog and go to the three part series on Copyright and Trademark Infringement for Writers) discussing this. Basically, it's stuff that has to be looked at carefully and on a case-by-case basis.
 

SuspiciousCookie

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Of course I'm not a producer, but it seems logical to me that artists/bands like Nirvana won't go out of their way to sue a big company like BBC or AMC. The ensuing trial could go either way, honestly. This if, of course, different if you're an unestablished writer. It's not just about popularity but also about general influence and money in these cases, both things you don't have as an unestablished writer.
 

DancingMaenid

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This is a complicated issue. But in general, titles aren't copyrighted, so referring to a title is different than quoting lyrics. Though, you still want to be careful sometimes.

However, in my experience, TV shows do jump through a lot of legal hoops. Even things like character names are often cleared by the show's legal department. I'm not sure if they get permission to allude to songs or not, but I wouldn't be very surprised if they did.
 

Calliea

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The thing is kind of strange to me, to be honest, because naming a chapter even by a piece of lyric (or a somewhat modified lyric) is more like a wink towards the original thing, a cultural continuity. It does not reuse the text to the same purpose or harm the original creator in any way whatsoever. I mean, it's not even possible for a book to cost song money. And it's hard to speak about stealing when you use 1-2 out 30 or more lines from the lyrics :p
 

Jamesaritchie

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Of course I'm not a producer, but it seems logical to me that artists/bands like Nirvana won't go out of their way to sue a big company like BBC or AMC. The ensuing trial could go either way, honestly. This if, of course, different if you're an unestablished writer. It's not just about popularity but also about general influence and money in these cases, both things you don't have as an unestablished writer.

Are you kidding? The deeper the pockets, the faster the lawsuit. Suing someone who's broke just costs you money. Suing a billion dollar company can make you rich. Yu can safely bet a million dollars against a penny that if permission was needed for this title, and it probably wasn't, they got it.
 

Paramite Pie

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Titles are not covered, but if the title also appears in the lyrics then it could be a problem as lyrics are protected.

As someone else mentioned, copyright is on a case by case basis. Also 'Teen Spirit' was a brand of deoderant at the time the song was written, apparently. Nirvana didn't get sued.:tongue

As an example of titles not being an issue, there are five movies called Wanted made between 2004 & 2011. Not to mention various albums, song titles over many decades, a comic book, a Hardy Boy's book and a boyband 'The Wanted'.

So using that word as a title in any media is safe. But if I were to write a book called Wanted about boyband members Frank and Joe who became assassins who could curve bullets and solved mysteries I could get sued from multiple angles.

The name itself could not get me sued but could be used to build a case against me as evidence of intent to create a derivative work.
 

Calliea

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The name of the whole books seems like a much more serious thing than the name of a chapter to be honest. Name of the book is some kind of recognition-tool, something defining, while chapter names not even close.

On a curious note: I've read few days ago that some company made a game for the mobile market and named it Candy or Candy something. Then they trademarked the word Candy and sued the creators of any other game that had the word Candy in the title.

Beyond me.
 

blacbird

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As someone else mentioned, copyright is on a case by case basis. Also 'Teen Spirit' was a brand of deoderant at the time the song was written, apparently. Nirvana didn't get sued.:tongue

This would have been a trademark issue, not a copyright issue. Trademarks are protected for names, expressions, symbols associated with specific products or kinds of products/services. Nirvana wouldn't have been allowed to produce a deodorant or similar product bearing the name "Teen Spirit", but its use in a song lyric or title is entirely unrelated.

caw
 

benluby

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I've been on a couple of film projects, both big budget and low budget/no budget, and the hoops they go through are amazing. If there's any idea they can get sued, they will change it or make sure they have permission before they use it.
And you can find the locations to get that permission and fees online a lot of times. The more popular the song, the more it costs.
 

phantasy

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Doesn't King do this in almost every book?
 

Wilde_at_heart

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Some time ago I bumped into a topic here talking about the usage of quotes and song titles in books. The general consensus and advice was: don't.

Don't quote the songs, don't name the chapters after songs, don't use titles, don't use quotes, generally stay away or you might get sued.

Now today I've seen something that made me wonder. The new episode of Castle was titled "Smells Like Teen Spirit". This a phrase that obviously connects to the song by Nirvana which, afaik, does not belong to a public domain? Even if, it's not the only example - it's enough to take a look at TV show episode listings to find plenty of song titles/quotes used as episode names.

So my question is - do the producers go out of their way to get a permission to do it? Seems pointless as episode titles aren't very important in TV shows. They're more like little winks to the audience that most people won't even notice.

Or are TV shows somehow privileged and can do it while book authors can't?

As Jamesaritchie said, song titles aren't protected under copyright.

However, every television network and major production company has a legal department that deals with this sort of thing. One could say they are 'privileged' in the sense that they can afford the lawyers.
 
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