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Would it be a copyright violation if I made a character’s full name refer to a song?
Can a copyright be made in the name of a fictional writer?Would there be copyright problems in publishing a book based on a similar concept?What are the copyright limitations for adopting a fictional character's name as your Pen Name?I want to name a character something but j feel like people would say I'm copying Veronica Roth, my favorite author. What should I do?Licensed out content for book, whose name in copyright notice?Does using a pen name complicate a copyright registration?Is it copyright infringement to Disney if I were to name my online company BuzzLightYear?When a publisher buys the copyright for my books, does that include the pen name I used?
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I want to write a realistic fiction book similar to Thomas Hardy’s works, where he used techniques and Biblical references (they were also called allusions) to make his writing more meaningful, and to prove points about Victorian society. I am interested in the use of allusions which can be used intentionally. I think that Allusions are still used to this day, such as in ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Percy Jackson’, so I won’t come off as old fashioned.
I had the idea where I would name a female character ‘Violet Raine’ to come off as a reference to the song ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince.
I don’t want to break a copywright rule even though I changed the name to make it hidden in the text, I am trying to achieve the affect of the allusion in writing without looking into Christian stories, so I am unsure if this is copyright as my reference is to a real musican. Does this depend on how I use the characters, or what region I will eventually publish my work?
copyright
edited 3 hours ago
DJ Spicy Deluxe
265213
asked 9 hours ago
Edmund FrostEdmund Frost
734519
add a comment |
I want to write a realistic fiction book similar to Thomas Hardy’s works, where he used techniques and Biblical references (they were also called allusions) to make his writing more meaningful, and to prove points about Victorian society. I am interested in the use of allusions which can be used intentionally. I think that Allusions are still used to this day, such as in ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Percy Jackson’, so I won’t come off as old fashioned.
I had the idea where I would name a female character ‘Violet Raine’ to come off as a reference to the song ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince.
I don’t want to break a copywright rule even though I changed the name to make it hidden in the text, I am trying to achieve the affect of the allusion in writing without looking into Christian stories, so I am unsure if this is copyright as my reference is to a real musican. Does this depend on how I use the characters, or what region I will eventually publish my work?
copyright
edited 3 hours ago
DJ Spicy Deluxe
265213
asked 9 hours ago
Edmund FrostEdmund Frost
734519
add a comment |
I want to write a realistic fiction book similar to Thomas Hardy’s works, where he used techniques and Biblical references (they were also called allusions) to make his writing more meaningful, and to prove points about Victorian society. I am interested in the use of allusions which can be used intentionally. I think that Allusions are still used to this day, such as in ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Percy Jackson’, so I won’t come off as old fashioned.
I had the idea where I would name a female character ‘Violet Raine’ to come off as a reference to the song ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince.
I don’t want to break a copywright rule even though I changed the name to make it hidden in the text, I am trying to achieve the affect of the allusion in writing without looking into Christian stories, so I am unsure if this is copyright as my reference is to a real musican. Does this depend on how I use the characters, or what region I will eventually publish my work?
copyright
edited 3 hours ago
DJ Spicy Deluxe
265213
asked 9 hours ago
Edmund FrostEdmund Frost
734519
I want to write a realistic fiction book similar to Thomas Hardy’s works, where he used techniques and Biblical references (they were also called allusions) to make his writing more meaningful, and to prove points about Victorian society. I am interested in the use of allusions which can be used intentionally. I think that Allusions are still used to this day, such as in ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Percy Jackson’, so I won’t come off as old fashioned.
I had the idea where I would name a female character ‘Violet Raine’ to come off as a reference to the song ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince.
I don’t want to break a copywright rule even though I changed the name to make it hidden in the text, I am trying to achieve the affect of the allusion in writing without looking into Christian stories, so I am unsure if this is copyright as my reference is to a real musican. Does this depend on how I use the characters, or what region I will eventually publish my work?
copyright
copyright
edited 3 hours ago
DJ Spicy Deluxe
265213
asked 9 hours ago
Edmund FrostEdmund Frost
734519
edited 3 hours ago
DJ Spicy Deluxe
265213
asked 9 hours ago
Edmund FrostEdmund Frost
734519
edited 3 hours ago
DJ Spicy Deluxe
265213
edited 3 hours ago
DJ Spicy Deluxe
265213
edited 3 hours ago
DJ Spicy Deluxe
265213
265213
asked 9 hours ago
Edmund FrostEdmund Frost
734519
asked 9 hours ago
Edmund FrostEdmund Frost
734519
asked 9 hours ago
Edmund FrostEdmund Frost
734519
734519
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
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Naming your character Violet Raine does not violate copyright.
You can throw in a joke about the mom being a Prince fan but the father drew the line at naming the kid Purple. This would be contextualizing your story in the real world.
Since he has passed on, you can even make Prince a character in the story – I know that's not your question, but it's my segue into the grey area of Intellectual Property and celebrity image.
Based on your references to allusions, I'll guess that Prince is more a creative inspiration, not an actual character in the story (real or fictionalized), with references to cranberry berets and driving little red sportscars too fast. I'm not a lawyer, but I can't see how it would trigger the ire of his estate. Even if you were more on-the-nose with the references, in the US it would probably be considered fair use through recontextualization.
What might ultimately be a problem is if the work appears to trade on Prince's fame or image for commercial (marketing) purposes. A judge would consider your intent to determine if you have infringed on the estate's licensing (I have no knowledge of Prince's estate, this is just speaking generally about a celebrity whose image is a marketable commodity).
If the name of your novel were Purple Rain, or even Purple Raine, a judge might consider if that was just a grab for name recognition. Since you are going for more subtle allusions (homage?) it would be much harder to claim you are damaging or trading on the estate's intellectual property.
answered 8 hours ago
wetcircuitwetcircuit
17.7k23185
Hi, thank you for the suggestions but did Prince drive Sportscars, or something else. I don’t know what your referring to there, sorry
– Edmund Frost
8 hours ago
1
@EdmundFrost, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Corvette
– wetcircuit
8 hours ago
2
+1, Also not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice, but to be clear you don't have to "trigger the ire of his estate". Triggering the greed of his estate to take the profits of the book is enough! "Violet Raine" is different words than "Purple Rain", it is not a homonym, and that is all that matters. Copyright and trademarks of Names applies only to the specific words, not the concept in general. The only place where "kind of similar" matters is an infringement of a trademarked symbol, logo or artwork.
– Amadeus
3 hours ago
add a comment |
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Naming your character Violet Raine does not violate copyright.
You can throw in a joke about the mom being a Prince fan but the father drew the line at naming the kid Purple. This would be contextualizing your story in the real world.
Since he has passed on, you can even make Prince a character in the story – I know that's not your question, but it's my segue into the grey area of Intellectual Property and celebrity image.
Based on your references to allusions, I'll guess that Prince is more a creative inspiration, not an actual character in the story (real or fictionalized), with references to cranberry berets and driving little red sportscars too fast. I'm not a lawyer, but I can't see how it would trigger the ire of his estate. Even if you were more on-the-nose with the references, in the US it would probably be considered fair use through recontextualization.
What might ultimately be a problem is if the work appears to trade on Prince's fame or image for commercial (marketing) purposes. A judge would consider your intent to determine if you have infringed on the estate's licensing (I have no knowledge of Prince's estate, this is just speaking generally about a celebrity whose image is a marketable commodity).
If the name of your novel were Purple Rain, or even Purple Raine, a judge might consider if that was just a grab for name recognition. Since you are going for more subtle allusions (homage?) it would be much harder to claim you are damaging or trading on the estate's intellectual property.
answered 8 hours ago
wetcircuitwetcircuit
17.7k23185
Hi, thank you for the suggestions but did Prince drive Sportscars, or something else. I don’t know what your referring to there, sorry
– Edmund Frost
8 hours ago
1
@EdmundFrost, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Corvette
– wetcircuit
8 hours ago
2
+1, Also not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice, but to be clear you don't have to "trigger the ire of his estate". Triggering the greed of his estate to take the profits of the book is enough! "Violet Raine" is different words than "Purple Rain", it is not a homonym, and that is all that matters. Copyright and trademarks of Names applies only to the specific words, not the concept in general. The only place where "kind of similar" matters is an infringement of a trademarked symbol, logo or artwork.
– Amadeus
3 hours ago
add a comment |
Naming your character Violet Raine does not violate copyright.
You can throw in a joke about the mom being a Prince fan but the father drew the line at naming the kid Purple. This would be contextualizing your story in the real world.
Since he has passed on, you can even make Prince a character in the story – I know that's not your question, but it's my segue into the grey area of Intellectual Property and celebrity image.
Based on your references to allusions, I'll guess that Prince is more a creative inspiration, not an actual character in the story (real or fictionalized), with references to cranberry berets and driving little red sportscars too fast. I'm not a lawyer, but I can't see how it would trigger the ire of his estate. Even if you were more on-the-nose with the references, in the US it would probably be considered fair use through recontextualization.
What might ultimately be a problem is if the work appears to trade on Prince's fame or image for commercial (marketing) purposes. A judge would consider your intent to determine if you have infringed on the estate's licensing (I have no knowledge of Prince's estate, this is just speaking generally about a celebrity whose image is a marketable commodity).
If the name of your novel were Purple Rain, or even Purple Raine, a judge might consider if that was just a grab for name recognition. Since you are going for more subtle allusions (homage?) it would be much harder to claim you are damaging or trading on the estate's intellectual property.
answered 8 hours ago
wetcircuitwetcircuit
17.7k23185
Hi, thank you for the suggestions but did Prince drive Sportscars, or something else. I don’t know what your referring to there, sorry
– Edmund Frost
8 hours ago
1
@EdmundFrost, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Corvette
– wetcircuit
8 hours ago
2
+1, Also not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice, but to be clear you don't have to "trigger the ire of his estate". Triggering the greed of his estate to take the profits of the book is enough! "Violet Raine" is different words than "Purple Rain", it is not a homonym, and that is all that matters. Copyright and trademarks of Names applies only to the specific words, not the concept in general. The only place where "kind of similar" matters is an infringement of a trademarked symbol, logo or artwork.
– Amadeus
3 hours ago
add a comment |
Naming your character Violet Raine does not violate copyright.
You can throw in a joke about the mom being a Prince fan but the father drew the line at naming the kid Purple. This would be contextualizing your story in the real world.
Since he has passed on, you can even make Prince a character in the story – I know that's not your question, but it's my segue into the grey area of Intellectual Property and celebrity image.
Based on your references to allusions, I'll guess that Prince is more a creative inspiration, not an actual character in the story (real or fictionalized), with references to cranberry berets and driving little red sportscars too fast. I'm not a lawyer, but I can't see how it would trigger the ire of his estate. Even if you were more on-the-nose with the references, in the US it would probably be considered fair use through recontextualization.
What might ultimately be a problem is if the work appears to trade on Prince's fame or image for commercial (marketing) purposes. A judge would consider your intent to determine if you have infringed on the estate's licensing (I have no knowledge of Prince's estate, this is just speaking generally about a celebrity whose image is a marketable commodity).
If the name of your novel were Purple Rain, or even Purple Raine, a judge might consider if that was just a grab for name recognition. Since you are going for more subtle allusions (homage?) it would be much harder to claim you are damaging or trading on the estate's intellectual property.
answered 8 hours ago
wetcircuitwetcircuit
17.7k23185
Naming your character Violet Raine does not violate copyright.
You can throw in a joke about the mom being a Prince fan but the father drew the line at naming the kid Purple. This would be contextualizing your story in the real world.
Since he has passed on, you can even make Prince a character in the story – I know that's not your question, but it's my segue into the grey area of Intellectual Property and celebrity image.
Based on your references to allusions, I'll guess that Prince is more a creative inspiration, not an actual character in the story (real or fictionalized), with references to cranberry berets and driving little red sportscars too fast. I'm not a lawyer, but I can't see how it would trigger the ire of his estate. Even if you were more on-the-nose with the references, in the US it would probably be considered fair use through recontextualization.
What might ultimately be a problem is if the work appears to trade on Prince's fame or image for commercial (marketing) purposes. A judge would consider your intent to determine if you have infringed on the estate's licensing (I have no knowledge of Prince's estate, this is just speaking generally about a celebrity whose image is a marketable commodity).
If the name of your novel were Purple Rain, or even Purple Raine, a judge might consider if that was just a grab for name recognition. Since you are going for more subtle allusions (homage?) it would be much harder to claim you are damaging or trading on the estate's intellectual property.
answered 8 hours ago
wetcircuitwetcircuit
17.7k23185
edited 8 hours ago
answered 8 hours ago
wetcircuitwetcircuit
17.7k23185
answered 8 hours ago
wetcircuitwetcircuit
17.7k23185
answered 8 hours ago
wetcircuitwetcircuit
17.7k23185
17.7k23185
Hi, thank you for the suggestions but did Prince drive Sportscars, or something else. I don’t know what your referring to there, sorry
– Edmund Frost
8 hours ago
1
@EdmundFrost, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Corvette
– wetcircuit
8 hours ago
2
+1, Also not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice, but to be clear you don't have to "trigger the ire of his estate". Triggering the greed of his estate to take the profits of the book is enough! "Violet Raine" is different words than "Purple Rain", it is not a homonym, and that is all that matters. Copyright and trademarks of Names applies only to the specific words, not the concept in general. The only place where "kind of similar" matters is an infringement of a trademarked symbol, logo or artwork.
– Amadeus
3 hours ago
add a comment |
Hi, thank you for the suggestions but did Prince drive Sportscars, or something else. I don’t know what your referring to there, sorry
– Edmund Frost
8 hours ago
1
@EdmundFrost, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Corvette
– wetcircuit
8 hours ago
2
+1, Also not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice, but to be clear you don't have to "trigger the ire of his estate". Triggering the greed of his estate to take the profits of the book is enough! "Violet Raine" is different words than "Purple Rain", it is not a homonym, and that is all that matters. Copyright and trademarks of Names applies only to the specific words, not the concept in general. The only place where "kind of similar" matters is an infringement of a trademarked symbol, logo or artwork.
– Amadeus
3 hours ago
Hi, thank you for the suggestions but did Prince drive Sportscars, or something else. I don’t know what your referring to there, sorry
– Edmund Frost
8 hours ago
Hi, thank you for the suggestions but did Prince drive Sportscars, or something else. I don’t know what your referring to there, sorry
– Edmund Frost
8 hours ago
1
1
@EdmundFrost, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Corvette
– wetcircuit
8 hours ago
@EdmundFrost, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Corvette
– wetcircuit
8 hours ago
2
2
+1, Also not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice, but to be clear you don't have to "trigger the ire of his estate". Triggering the greed of his estate to take the profits of the book is enough! "Violet Raine" is different words than "Purple Rain", it is not a homonym, and that is all that matters. Copyright and trademarks of Names applies only to the specific words, not the concept in general. The only place where "kind of similar" matters is an infringement of a trademarked symbol, logo or artwork.
– Amadeus
3 hours ago
+1, Also not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice, but to be clear you don't have to "trigger the ire of his estate". Triggering the greed of his estate to take the profits of the book is enough! "Violet Raine" is different words than "Purple Rain", it is not a homonym, and that is all that matters. Copyright and trademarks of Names applies only to the specific words, not the concept in general. The only place where "kind of similar" matters is an infringement of a trademarked symbol, logo or artwork.
– Amadeus
3 hours ago
add a comment |
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