I'm wondering for a story i'm writing if it copyright infringement or just plain wrong to mention in my story another author or book or even a song? like if my story deals with vampires is it wrong for a character to ask "so your not like anne rice's vampires, right?" do you get what i mean?
2007-07-09 05:55:50 · 6 answers · asked by sirenlore 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
A title cannot be copyrighted, so you can mention the titles of books, songs, and movies all you like. If you're mentioning the name of a public figure, such as a well-known author, you're also pretty safe as long as you don't write anything libelous. Simply referring to Anne Rice as the author of novels about vampires wouldn't pose any legal problem.
I would say that as a matter of style, a line like "So you're not like Anne Rice's vampires, right?" seems rather cheesy. Pop culture references can help ground a story in a recognizable time and place, but if you're not careful it can seem like you're just trying to work in a mention of all your favorite books, movies, and songs.
Speaking of songs, while mentioning the title is fine (e.g. "He was listening to his favorite song, 'Baby Got Back'"), you can't freely quote from the lyrics. Quoting two lines or less is arguably fair use, provided you give a citation for the orignal source. However, a publisher would want you to get permission from the copyright holder anyway, because plenty of major music companies would be happy to sue even if you were technically within the letter of the law.
If you never intend to publish your story you can get away with quoting song lyrics extensively, but I'd again suggest avoiding this for purely stylistic reasons. It looks stupid and lazy to have a bunch of quoted song lyrics make up a significant part of your story.
2007-07-09 18:17:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's fine... it's the quoting of actual text that gets to be questionable
2007-07-09 06:03:12 · answer #2 · answered by aspicco 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Usually you need to get their permission if you are using their name, etc.
2007-07-09 06:03:27 · answer #3 · answered by prairiefire_14 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nothing wrong with it, in fact it can be viewed as a compliment.
You can however ask for permission, or give thanks afterwards.
2007-07-09 06:04:13 · answer #4 · answered by theCATALYST 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, that isn't wrong at all. That is perfectly fine.
2007-07-09 06:00:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no. its called an allusion
2007-07-09 06:38:36 · answer #6 · answered by oompa loompa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋