: Can you use a company's name as title for a short story? I'm writing a short story about a girl whose boyfriend is doing in internship in another city. She goes to visit him every week.

I'm writing a short story about a girl whose boyfriend is doing in internship in another city. She goes to visit him every week. But the guy always call at the last minute, saying he can't come and gives her some lame excuse. So every time, the girl ends up sitting alone in the city's train station, at Sushi Express, eating sushi and meeting some strange characters.

I want to call the story Sushi Express which is a real sushi shop.

Is it legally OK to use it as the title of my short story? If not, what trick can I use to sort this out?

(I thought of other names but they sound terrible: Sushi Expressway, High-speed Sushi, Speedy Sushi, etc.)

I'm not planning to publish the story yet. But I hope I won't have any problems in the future (based on the legal system of all over the world, since I'm more likely to publish it on Amazon.)

Load Full (4)

: Writing simple short sentences first and connecting them later Recently, I've been experimenting with new ways to write sentences, and I came out with the following: I'll write very short and

@Goswami879

Load Full 1 Comments

: Should I edit the first draft until I'm totally satisfied or should I leave that to the third draft? After having waited for three months for the first draft of my novel to "cool off,"

@Goswami879

Load Full 4 Comments

: What gender do you think the narrator is? Once again, I traveled three hours only to eat sushi, alone. Cars passed by and people streamed along the sidewalk. Hanging in the air, I could

@Goswami879

Load Full 5 Comments

: When to use pronouns, and when to repeat yourself? This is a quote from one of my favorite movies: "There are nearly thirteen million people in the world. None of those people is an extra.

@Goswami879

Load Full 1 Comments

Login to post a comment!

4 Comments

Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best

@Shanna875

It's helpful to remember that John Updike's story "A&P" didn't arouse any trademark issues -- and it was published in the New Yorker in 1961 and later in Pigeon Feathers.

Load Full (0)

@Dunderdale623

(disclaimer: I am not a lawyer)

â€œSushi Expressâ€ is presumably a trademark, so if you use it as the title of the story, then you are trying to profit off their corporate reputation. Even if the story portrays the store in a favorable light, some insufficiently busy lawyer in Sushi Expressâ€™s corporate headquarters might decide that if anyone is going to make money off short stories using their trademark, then by God, they should get a piece of the action.

Load Full (0)

@Caterina108

In the united states what you are as is probably fair use (fair dealing in other jurisdictions) but few companies understand fair use, so you will probably be sued and even if you win which might be problematic, I have seen district court judges ignore fair use, might be very expensive, so be careful. I would personally recommend a longer title such as Thursday at sushi express, and licencing or endorsement. (ask sushi express if they would like you to promote their second best selling dish and collect a little money. which would be an implicit licence.)

I have never heard anything specific about this restaurant's legal practices or their lawyers, so my advice is based on typical corporations.

Load Full (0)

@Lee1909368

Well, there is one simple and universal answer: Ask Sushi Express for written permission. If the story puts their shop in a good light, they should be glad to provide it (free publicity/product placement) and you'll be in the clear legally.

Otherwise, BESW's comment is right; that depends on your local legal system. Answers will vary depending on where you and Sushi Express are.

Load Full (0)

Feed

: Can you use a company's name as title for a short story? I'm writing a short story about a girl whose boyfriend is doing in internship in another city. She goes to visit him every week.

More posts by @Goswami879

: Writing simple short sentences first and connecting them later Recently, I've been experimenting with new ways to write sentences, and I came out with the following: I'll write very short and

: Should I edit the first draft until I'm totally satisfied or should I leave that to the third draft? After having waited for three months for the first draft of my novel to "cool off,"

: What gender do you think the narrator is? Once again, I traveled three hours only to eat sushi, alone. Cars passed by and people streamed along the sidewalk. Hanging in the air, I could

: When to use pronouns, and when to repeat yourself? This is a quote from one of my favorite movies: "There are nearly thirteen million people in the world. None of those people is an extra.

Login to post a comment!

4 Comments

Back to top