why is it that more than one movie can have the same exact name?

Question

like the movie that just came out with (will ferrell)Stranger Than Fiction,and theres another movie with the same name that came out in 1999,what if someone asked me if i have seen that movie,and they could be talking about a totally different movie.

Answer 1

I think it's because you can't have a copyright on just a title, unless that title is extremely specific or contains copyrighted names or properties. For example, anybody could call a movie "Titanic" because nobody has the copyright on the Titanic or its sinking. However, if you made a movie by that title, it would have to be different enough from the James Cameron version so that it's clearly an original movie and not a ripoff. As long as the Ferrel "Stranger Than Fiction" is not similar enough to the other movie with the same name to cause confusion between the two of them, then it's not violating the copyright. But if it shared the same story or enough similar elements, that would not be allowed. Also, you couldn't just make a movie called "Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban," even if it were completely different from the movie of that name that already exists. That's because the character and the name Harry Potter are copyrighted, and the title is so specific that you couldn't say you came up with it independently. In other words, you'd obviously be trying to rip off movie viewers by fooling them into thinking it's the real Harry Potter. So that would be illegal.

Answer 2

then you just ask "you mean the one with will ferrell or the other one" and then after they respond you say yes or no depending on whether or not you've seen it. thats like asking why more than one person can have the same name.

Answer 3

Movie titles are not under copyright laws. You can make "Gone With the Wind" that is a biography of the floating feather in "Forrest Gump".

Answer 4

U Confuse Me

Answer 5

maybe it s a remake with a different plan or screme