: Re: Are there copyright issues with a novella title if it's a famous line? If you use a line or phrase from a really famous poem that most can recite as a title for a novella, is it stealing?

@Samaraweera193

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Don't do it. Here's why. The copyright holder of the poem can invoke the Lanham Act to protect their work.

It falls under 'unfair competition' and/or 'passing off.' "Passing off" is where they usually nail you to the wall.

The title of a stand-alone book cannot be copyrighted.
However, the main title of a series can be trademarked and registered.

You could seek permission from the copyright holder of the poem to use a line from the poem as the title of a book. If they allow it, they may also ask you to give credit for same on your copyright page.

The stealing of book titles is quite common, and you often find the same title by different authors in book listings. However, doing so can get you in legal trouble.

Here is quote pulled from the "Rights of Writers" website.

Here's how the Second Circuit Court of Appeals explained "secondary
meaning" in Rogers v. Grimaldi: The purchaser of a book, like the
purchaser of a can of peas, has a right not to be misled as to the
source of the product. Thus, it is well established that where the
title of a movie or a book has acquired secondary meaning — that is,
where the title is sufficiently well known that consumers associate it
with a particular author's work — the holder of the rights to that
title may prevent the use of the same or confusingly similar titles by
other authors . . . . Indeed, it would be ironic if, in the name of
the First Amendment, courts did not recognize the right of authors to
protect titles of their creative work against infringement by other
authors.

VTY
Dutch

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