Book title: similar Title, but different subtitle

[Mr Nice]

Hey Guys and thanks for your help!
I'm from europe, but want to publish a book on amazon.com.
My competition already has a book under the title "The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy".

Would it be possible to name my book ""Plant paradoxon: why eating your vegetables may have caused more harm than good for you", if I try to differentiate my cover and use this different subtitle ?
A trademark has not been registered for "plant paradox" yet, but as I understand, there could also be a claim under common law.

All the best from europe and please excuse any probable english mistakes

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

In general a title can't be copyright protected. It is sometimes protected by trademark but not copyright.

 

[quincy]

You say you are in Europe. Intellectual property laws are different from country to country. You will want to seek legal advice in your country.

In the U.S., book titles can be protected under trademark laws and under unfair competition laws. There is nothing in the U.S. Copyright Act that precludes a title from having copyright protection but most titles do not have original and creative content enough to be eligible for protection.

The titles of book series (like Captain Underpants and Harry Potter) are trademarks and can be federally registered, and single book titles that have acquired a "secondary meaning" can be protected under trademark law (like "Gone with the Wind"). When a single title has acquired a secondary meaning, this means that the consuming public connects the title with a specific work.

Unfair competition can be demonstrated if the consuming public has been confused, misled or deceived by the use of the same or similar title, believing falsely but reasonably that the new work under the title is the original work or affiliated in some way with the original work/author. The new work could be shown to be capitalizing off the popularity/familiarity of the original.

A musical artist, in other words, should not title their song "Yellow Submarine" and an author should not title their novel "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

 

[adjusterjack]

A musical artist, in other words, should not title their song "Yellow Submarine"

Yellow Underwater Boat?

an author should not title their novel "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Harry, the Potter, and the Sorcerer's Pottery Stone?

 

[quincy]

Yellow Underwater Boat?

Harry, the Potter, and the Sorcerer's Pottery Stone?

Well, Alice Randall wrote and published "The Wind Done Gone."

Randall was sued by Margaret Mitchell's estate and Houghton Mifflin for doing so, however - for copyright infringement. Fortunately for Randall, the court found the text of Randall's work a parody of "Gone With the Wind" and a fair use of copyrighted material. See: Suntrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin Co., 268 F.2d 1257 (11th Cir. 2001).

With all of the words and combination of words to use, I think it should be fairly easy (and legally smartest) to come up with a book title that is unique.

One unique title, verified in January of this year by The Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest title, was written by Ravi Sonar and has 6,076 characters (2057 words). I would give the title here, but it would take too long to write out.

 

[adjusterjack]

One unique title, verified in January of this year by The Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest title, was written by Ravi Sonar and has 6,076 characters (2057 words). I would give the title here, but it would take too long to write out.

It's in the Marathi language so it's unlikely that any of our readers would understand it if you did post it.

 

[quincy]

It's in the Marathi language so it's unlikely that any of our readers would understand it if you did post it.

Yup. It was going to be both difficult to write out AND difficult to read once written. Hardly seemed worth the effort.

 

[Mr Nice]

wow, thanks for all of your contributions and time, that is great to see .
I am living in europe, but the book would be digitally accessible in the US, therefore I asked the question in this board.

"[...] confused, misled or deceived by the use of the same or similar title, believing falsely but reasonably that the new work under the title is the original work or affiliated in some way with the original work/author. The new work could be shown to be capitalizing off the popularity/familiarity of the original. "

Okay, so If I try do differentiate my product as far as possible with a totally different cover, different subtitle etc, could this still be very problematic ? Yeah, you are right, I could find another fitting title. But in general, it would really annoy me because I had this idea several years ago.

"If I were using "The Great Gatsby" in my title to refer to Fitzgerald's book, it might qualify as nominative fair use and therefore not be an infringement. In other words, if I make it clear enough that my book is about The Great Gatsby, but that it is not Fitzgerald's book or some kind of sequel, then my "nominative fair use" defense will likely succeed. (It would probably help to have a subtitle or prominent disclaimer on the cover that further clarifies this is not The Great Gatsby, but a book about The Great Gatsby.) "

I dont want to be too optimistic, but I read this as sth supporting my case .
ALl the best

 

[quincy]

Specific facts matter. It is important to remember, though, that in the US "fair use" is a DEFENSE to a claim of infringement and not permission to use rights-protected material.

With the use of another's trademark, fair use perhaps could be used successfully as a defense to a claim of infringement if the use of the trademark can be shown to describe the goods/services only and not used as a way to trade off the trademark holder's fame/familiarity.

I recommend you have the particulars of your use personally reviewed by an attorney in your area.

 

[adjusterjack]

My take:

If you have to ask if you are infringing, then you probably are and you should either do something else or get consent.

 

[quincy]

There are many uses of copyrighted material and trademarks that are fair uses.

I agree that it is legally safest to refrain from using anything that has an owner or to acquire permission prior to use, but there would be a lot of good and important material that would never have been published if everyone was discouraged from using the trademarks or copyrighted material of others.

I think a personal review by a legal professional in Europe would be smart.

 

[Shadowbunny]

Hey Guys and thanks for your help!
I'm from europe, but want to publish a book on amazon.com.
My competition already has a book under the title "The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy".

Would it be possible to name my book ""Plant paradoxon: why eating your vegetables may have caused more harm than good for you", if I try to differentiate my cover and use this different subtitle ?
A trademark has not been registered for "plant paradox" yet, but as I understand, there could also be a claim under common law.

All the best from europe and please excuse any probable english mistakes

As far as titles go, I'm not loving your suggested one. Doesn't exactly scream "READ ME." So perhaps a wittier, less legally perilous title would be better.

 

[quincy]

As far as titles go, I'm not loving your suggested one. Doesn't exactly scream "READ ME." So perhaps a wittier, less legally perilous title would be better.

Titles can be important but smart marketing of a book matters more.

"The Plant Paradox," as a note, was a New York Times Best Seller.

If a book has become popular because of its content and/or author, trying to capitalize off the popularity by using the same title can be a very costly mistake.

 

[Shadowbunny]

The Plant Paradox IS a good title, IMHO. OP's suggested title is unwieldy, on top of being legally risky.

 

[quincy]

The Plant Paradox IS a good title, IMHO. OP's suggested title is unwieldy, on top of being legally risky.

"Unwieldy" are the titles of the books by Ravi Sonar and by S.Subramonian.

"Unoriginal" and "Asking for a lawsuit" is the title suggested by Mr Nice.