A question regarding copyright

[Dasquian Belargic]

Hypothetically, if I wrote a book, would I be allowed to reference things from popular culture in it? For example, could I use the names of a band/song or a television show/movie/book or characters from these things?

[Janson Star]

Depends entirely on the context. I think you could probably get away with it. Take the Matrix for example...I doubt there was a copyright problem with using the phrase "He's doing his Superman thing." If the band/song/show/movie/book is big enough that its culture extends beyond itself (like us RPing Star Wars, for example), then it should be ok. It depends, but it probably wouldn't be a problem.

[Shawn]

Absolutely. Read a Stephen King novel sometime.

[Dasquian Belargic]

And this works for a reference to anything? Anne Rice couldn't sue me if I casually dropped a mention to Lestat, or some such?

[ReaperFett]

I recently asked similar for comic scripts. Basically, it depends on the strength.

An example of this is Todd McFarlane vs Tony Twist.

In a 35-page decision, the Missouri Supreme Court has sided with the appellate court that overturned the verdict in hockey star Tony Twist’s $24.5 million lawsuit against publisher Todd McFarlane.

The suit began after McFarlane, an avid hockey fan, included a villain named “Tony Twist” in an issue of Spawn, as an homage to the player. Twist sued for unauthorized use of his name, claiming it had hurt his chances for endorsements, and, in a jury trial won a $24.5 million award in July, 2000. This was overturned by the Missouri State appeals court on Halloween of that year.

So, you can sue. I believe context is a key thing. A character saying "Want to see the new Tom Cruise movie?" would probably be fine, but be careful of "In the news today, Tom Cruise was charged with eating babies". One is acknowledging Tom Cruise exists, one could be seen as slander against Cruise.


Obviously they actually have to care enough to sue though. Years back, a writer wrote a comic series where the evil nemesis was Jonathan Ross. He loved it, bought all his friends copies :)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Ahh, that makes sense. Thanks :)

[Janson Star]

*runs out to find the comic ReaperFett was on about* cooool...

That has made me thought of something, though. I have some SWars stuff I started writing a while back...anyone have any idea how I'd go about trying to get it published? I know Lucas is picky about what gets put into EU, so...

[Gurney Devries]

Originally posted by ReaperFett
I recently asked similar for comic scripts. Basically, it depends on the strength.

An example of this is Todd McFarlane vs Tony Twist.

So, you can sue. I believe context is a key thing. A character saying "Want to see the new Tom Cruise movie?" would probably be fine, but be careful of "In the news today, Tom Cruise was charged with eating babies". One is acknowledging Tom Cruise exists, one could be seen as slander against Cruise.


Obviously they actually have to care enough to sue though. Years back, a writer wrote a comic series where the evil nemesis was Jonathan Ross. He loved it, bought all his friends copies :) Notice that the case was overturned, meaning that Twist lost. You can sue anyone for anything, regardless of what kind of grounds you have. Whether or not you win is a different story.

But yes. Libel is a no-no. And you may have to look at getting permission for using something like song lyrics (or not. Very subjective, that one). But if you had a character who said "Hey, I just heard "Down With the Sickness" on the radio. Man, I love that band", you wouldn't have a problem.

And to the post above: Mentioning pop culture is one thing. Using established characters, settings or trademarks without permission is another. So I'm afraid fanfic is a no-no, as well. You can't write a book with a vampire named "Lestat", for example. But you could have a character say "Hey man, you're not going all Lestat on me are you? Am I going to have to slit your throat? (laughs)"

Also keep in mind that some authors/copyright holders are just jerks. Even if you can legally use a name/title in a story, they could very well contact you and threaten you with legal action. And, while they would ultimately lose, they know that joe average doesn't have the kind of money to fight them in court and so will cave in to their demands.

Additionally, this all applies to the US. But it should be fairly accurate anywhere you go.

[ReaperFett]

Originally posted by Gurney Devries
Notice that the case was overturned, meaning that Twist lost. You can sue anyone for anything, regardless of what kind of grounds you have. Whether or not you win is a different story.
True. Also, McFarlane seems to just live in the courts these days :)

[Rhea Kaylen]

Originally posted by Janson Star
*runs out to find the comic ReaperFett was on about* cooool...

That has made me thought of something, though. I have some SWars stuff I started writing a while back...anyone have any idea how I'd go about trying to get it published? I know Lucas is picky about what gets put into EU, so...

I'm afraid you'd be pretty hard up trying to get an EU novel published. I read that the Lucas clan actually outlined the whole Expanded Universe during the course of several meetings. Then they started asking certain authors to flesh out the novels. So, in short, Star Wars EU is pretty much an invitation-based thing. Now, I don't know how far that extends or how religiously that's observed, but if the sheer size and clout of the Lucasfilm empire is any clue, I'm guessing it'd be difficult to get an unauthorized novel published.

[Marcus Telcontar]

I'm guessing it'd be difficult to get an unauthorized novel published.

It is impossible without the implicit permission of the copyright holder. It does not fall under fair use or other use provisions copyright gives.

[Janson Star]

Guess I'll just have to hope my stuff is reeeeeally good, and send it to Mr Lucas, and hope he's so blown away that he'll either let it be published, or ask me to write something else. If not, I guess it gets donated to fan fiction.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Guess I'll just have to hope my stuff is reeeeeally good, and send it to Mr Lucas, and hope he's so blown away that he'll either let it be published, or ask me to write something else.

Watch out for those flying pigs while you're at it. I don't think Lucas would be likely to comission fans to write for the EU. He's probably very very picky.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Originally posted by Janson Star
Guess I'll just have to hope my stuff is reeeeeally good, and send it to Mr Lucas, and hope he's so blown away that he'll either let it be published, or ask me to write something else. If not, I guess it gets donated to fan fiction.

There's already in existance a rather good full novel (300,000 plus words) fan fic that already nukes many of the books in the EU. Mr Lucas didnt come calling.

[Janson Star]

Mine doesn't...it fits in quite nicely. But anyway...I shall see.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Originally posted by Janson Star
Mine doesn't...it fits in quite nicely. But anyway...I shall see.

You mean it'll be an appalling pile of crap? THAT'S what fitting into the EU means in the main.

Suggestion - dont do a Me Too, frankly there's fan fics that are awesome and I bet someone from Lucasfilm has seen them and they aint being called to write anything, do something original that displays talent and get that published instead.