Copyrights In Novels? - Writers Forum

Ethan IV · 05-04-2007, 09:06 AM

Are you allowed to refer to copyrights in novels?

Can you say a character drunk coke, a character drives a Lexus, a character watches CNN etc. I noticed Stephen King does it a lot - especially in The Stand, in which Randall Flagg used the MGM Grand as his headquarters for evil. Was MGM ok with it? It wasn't exactly positively portrayed, having an evil man using it is a base and crucifying people in front of it, a woman later impales herself through one of the windows, and a pregnant woman is thrown from the penthouse floor to her death,

Phantom Writer · 05-04-2007, 10:29 AM

Great question. I'm anxious to see the answer to this also.

My guess is that MGM would welcome the free publicity, and was ok with it knowing it was a work of fiction. The general public knows it wasn't a "real" event, but having it happen at a real place made the story even more believable. Just my thoughts. There has to be some freedom of using brand names. Honestly, no one could ever keep up with who was writing about what and report them all. Maybe companies only buck about it when it attempts to factually shed their product in a negative way, in which case the MGM reference wasn't shining a bad light on MGM per se, rather the person in the story. Dunno.

There are some pretty smart peeps here (I'm new)....so I'm sure someone will come along with a more accurate answer than mine...lol

Joe Moore · 05-04-2007, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ethan IV

Are you allowed to refer to copyrights in novels?

Hi Ethan,

Brands such as Coke, BMW, Exxon, etc. are not covered under copyright but are protected as registered trademarks. Using them in fiction is fine as long as you capitalize the brand. In other words, it's not a coke, it's a Coke. He drives a Mercedes, not a mercedes.

Although there is a disclaimer in the front of every work of fiction stating that it is just that, the only time I would suggest creating a fictitious brand rather than using a well-known one is if your story cast the brand in a very negative manner. Having your character drink a Coke is not a problem, but having a conspiracy by the board of directors of Coca Cola to poison all their products in order to murder countless millions of customers would not be a good idea.

Also remember that any questionable use of a registered trademark will be an issue for the legal department of your publisher. If they feel that you are walking too close to the edge of libel, they would probably request that you change the name of the brand to one that is purely fictitious.

Most manufacturers consider the use of their brands in fiction to be free advertising. Good luck with your book.

Joe

mammamaia · 05-04-2007, 05:42 PM

yes, you're referring to trademarked brand names, not copyrighted material, as joe notes above...

fyi, legally [in the us], writers are supposed to add the 'tm' symbol, along with capitalizing the brand name...

HarryG · 05-05-2007, 04:18 AM

Copyright can be difficult.

“As Mercedes parked her BMW in front of the MGM building, she took another sip from the small bottle of Coke. A quick glance into the rear view mirror renewed her courage. Years of drinking Coke had rotted her teeth, and she was about to get revenge. The entire board of Coca Cola executives was meeting at the MGM and she had enough explosives in the boot of her BMW to blow them all sky-high.”

I suppose some editors might baulk at that.

Mike C · 05-05-2007, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ethan IV

Are you allowed to... Stephen King does it a lot

Kind of answers your own question...

mammamaia · 05-05-2007, 05:50 PM

so, when you have the market clout of king, i guess you can both do it and get away with it!