Guidelines for Using Brand Names, Locations, Song Titles, etc...

Trademark Names in Books

Not really a Beware. This is sort of a Novels Board kinda thread.....

I've been told that you can use them as long as proper trademarks and quotations are in and such, but I don't know for sure. I hope some of the more experienced authors can answer one way or another to help you out. I personally just avoid them and save myself the hassle and worry.

Sara

My understanding is that you can use the name of an artist, as in "Sally knew Jeff was home because Green Day was blaring from the kitchen radio," but you can't quote lyrics or even use song titles without getting permission.

So I couldn't say, "Sally walked in and heard Green Day singing "Brain Stew" on the kitchen radio," or "Sally walked in and heard Green Day singing, "I'm countin' sheep but running out." However, I could say, "Sally walked in and heard Green Day singing about insomnia."

Names

Using brand names and titles is not really a problem in fiction, but a little bit goes a very long way. Titles are not copyrighted, lyrics are. In nonfiction, you're supposed to use the trademark symbol whenever using a brand name, but this really doesn't hold in fiction. A trademark symbol just doesn't go over in narrative.

It would be a strange character who lived in a world that has no brand name products and no famous people and no famous songs.

A little bit of brand name use goes a very long way. It gets old fast. But there's nothing at all wrong with having a character drive a '65 Ford Mustang (Which is what Mike Hammer drove), or having a character drink a Bud Light, or saying you a character hears Frank Sinatra singing "I Did it My Way" on the radio. Thugh I'd probably write taht when the character stepped into the bar, Sinatra was on the jukebox sining about doing it his way.

It's really the same as using real locations. A character walks through Central Park, or goes to the top of The Empire State Building, or picks up a copy of The New York Times and scans the headlines.

Too many brand names reads poorly, but using some simply adds veristimilitude to a story. But it is like using cayenne pepper. . .too much is a bad thing.

Most often, a car is referred to as a car, or a character says, "I drank a beer," etc. But when needed, brand names and real people can make the difference.

You usually don't have to worry about this unless you write contemporary fiction set in the real world, and sometimes it's fun to make up your own brand names, your own music groups, complete with your own song titles and lyrics, but sometimes the real deal makes the difference in contemporary fiction set in the real world.

As James said, too many brand names reads poorly. Just make sure if you do use them, capitalize the first letter, as in "She passed him a Kleenex." Some writers do use brand names because the reader can identify with it. (Stephen King does.)

stormie said:

As James said, too many brand names reads poorly. Just make sure if you do use them, capitalize the first letter, as in "She passed him a Kleenex." Some writers do use brand names because the reader can identify with it. (Stephen King does.)

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I should think that these companies would welcome the use of their names, as it is free advertising! Same with song lyrics; if the book became wildly popular and used the lyrics of an out-of-date song, that song would also gain popalarity.
I don't use lyrics in my books but the music listened to by my characters does help set the stage so a lot of song titles are used.

There was once a discussion among British authors about "product placement" in novels, saying just what I said before: if a novel uses their product's name then it's the author who really should get paid for the free ad. It's not a thing I'd welcome; we need less, not more commerialism in writing.

And do you remember the case of Fay Weldon, who was actually PAID (a large amount) by a jeweller to write a novel using their brand name in the title, and a story based on their jewellery? Though I like Fay Weldon, I thought it was an awful development.

I'm thinking of working up an idea that involves some celebrities (dead and alive)...in a kind of parallel universe....ie: how their lives might have gone if things had been different.

I guess the same principle applies here as brand names....would I be sued to buggery if in this 'parallel universe' portrayed (for example) the Pope as a playboy, or MacDonalds as an evil pharmaceutical company? Or does one protect oneself with some sort of disclaimer ('the characters and brandnames used in this book, are merely coincidental and do not in anyway reflect upon the real persons/companies...etc....etc')

Limitations?

Just a few comments on this in random order:

• That myth about "one can't use song titles" is precisely that. It's put forth by the two major music publishers for their own selfish interests; it has no legal foundation.
• The similar myth about "can't quote any lyrics" is even more invidious, and has a similar source. I have yet to find a single case upholding an infringement claim for quoting two lines or less not including a proper name—and it's not for lack of trying. Fair use applies to song lyrics, too.
• There's an entire (awful) school of so-called "K-Mart Realists" who continually used brand names in their fiction in the 1980s and 1990s, mostly as a substitute for real characterization and description. Contrary to what a lot of trademark holders claim, an author has no obligation to use a trademark symbol. An author probably should use trademarks properly—if only out of courtesy to another holder of creative rights—but need not do so if it would be ridiculous. For example, in dialog I am not going to say "Pass me the box of Kleenex brand facial tissues." I am going to say "Pass me the Kleenex"—precisely because that particular mark is so commonly used as the generic name. It's better if you can find a way to get around that, but it's not (strictly speaking) legally required.

Jaws said:

For example, in dialog I am not going to say "Pass me the box of Kleenex brand facial tissues."

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I'm going to try to talk like this for the rest of the day, just for giggles and to see what people do!

I try to avoid any type of product placement: tissue paper instead of Kleenex, toothpaste instead of Crest, canned soup instead of Campbell's. Usually the brands are just not that important. However, there are times when the brands are important (Coke vs. Pepsi, Reese's vs. M&Ms, Honda vs. Ford) that give the story some kind of authenticity and verisimilitude. My thought is, the brand has to be universal and well-known enough. I've read books in which the author mentions a brand like we should ALL know what it is (like a model of a car or a boat or something). That bugs me.

There's an entire (awful) school of so-called "K-Mart Realists" who continually used brand names in their fiction in the 1980s and 1990s, mostly as a substitute for real characterization and description.

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(raising hand timidly in class): you mean like Bret Easton Ellis?

Can I publish a book that takes place in Colonial Williamsburg, VA? Legally?(merged)

I have been reading over laws and it's making my head spin! I am working on a novel that takes place in Colonial Williamsburg, which is in my town. Well, CW OWNS this town, a lot of decisions are made based on what they want etc.

How do I know if it's legal to use CW as a setting for my book? I'd like to also include (favorable) local shops and areas within CW and the surrounding area. Is this a legal issue?

You can set your story anywhere you want.

But if I, for example, have a story take place completely in McDonalds, would I owe them or need to contact them?

Real places pop up in novels all the time. You're fine.

Look what Twilight did for the town of Forks. Look at how many books and movies and television series are set in New York.

Obviously since you live there then you aren't going to make egregious location errors like replacing Main street with a swamp.

I say go for it.

Thanks very much! I'm really excited! In one of my books I mentioned Jeep (as in I wish I had a Jeep to drive around in) over and over. I was worried about copyrights or trademarks and kept putting in that annoying little R in a circle.

Have you read any fiction? Did you see Stephen King put the ® every time he mentioned a car or a beer or something? Did you ever read a book set in a real place?

Don't sweat it.

Yes, of course I have. But I also know that authors have blurbs about no place, person, event being real and work is fiction. I also know that many authors make up fake places (doesn't King? Derry is it?) because the things that happen in their stories are crazy or 'bad.'

I'm not going to sweat it. I just worry about legal stuff because you see so many stories on the web about things you would never have thought to worry about!

As long as you don't say things like "McDonald's food kills millions of people" you'd fine.

Drat.

glendalough said:

But if I, for example, have a story take place completely in McDonalds, would I owe them or need to contact them?

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It depends, do you eat there often?

I ran out on paying for a Happy Meal once, but only because I noticed a Jack-in-The-Box across the street.