I want to self publish a poetry project I've been working on. I'm confident the work itself doesn't infringe any copyright, but need some advice about trademarks re: my proposed title... 50 Shades Of Poetry. Is there anywhere I can get free legal advice or resources? If I need to speak to a solicitor, is there anything I should look out for?
I love to talk about things about which I haven't got the foggiest notion, so here goes:
In normal circumstances, you should be able to do this. There are books with exactly the same title, 2 films came out in the same year with the title "Crash", and - as far as I know - nobody sued anybody. I don't know of a single one, but I bet that there are half a dozen books titled "Nurses On Holiday".
But here's the question: WHY do you want this title? Surely it's to attract attention to your book. If 50 Shades Of Grey had never been published - or had never been a smash hit - would you even have considered this title? I'm guessing that you want people to buy - or at least skim through - your book BECAUSE of the title.
And I'm not knocking that. Any tricks to get your book noticed are OK by me. Well... MOST tricks. My own web-site is called "Jimm's Fairy Tales". But then, that title has a certain validity: My name is Jimmy, and I've written re-working of classic fairy tales (not JUST ones from the Brothers Grimm). But I'm not really being truthful, because there are no fairies in my stories, and they're not fairy tales: they're transpositions of fairy stories into the "real" world. All the magic in them is naturally-occurring magic: the magic at work all around us, every day.
So what's the validity of your title? Are there 50 poems? Are they female erotica? If there AREN'T 50 poems, I predict that you're going to be accused of opportunism... and a judge might well consider that you're calculatingly trying to ride on the wave of the novel (and its sequels)' fame.
Let's suppose that there are 53 poems. If you called the book 53 Shades Of Poetry, everybody would "get" the connection, but it would take a stretch of justice for you to be found guilty of copyright infringement.
That's just me blethering on on a subject I don't know nuffink abaht.
Titles can't be copyrighted, and you're not proposing to duplicate another, simply use parts of one which happens to currently exist.
If I wrote something called 'A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Autopsy' for example, changing one word from a famous title just as you propose, no-one could sue me for it.
If anyone's trademarked your title as it is, that'd be different...
Hi Cassy, I'm not a lawyer (or even a published author yet!) but I do own a registered trademark so I have a little bit of experience with registering trademarks, although trademarks tend to refer to images/ logo's etc rather than words. The IP (intellectual property) office will be able to help.
IP lawyers are massively expensive so I avoided them. I simply phoned the government IP office and found them extremely helpful and approachable. They may well advise you to get an IP lawyer but I found registering trademarks is a reasonably straightforward process and can be done direct with the IP office (online). There is lots of info and guidance on the IP office website so it's bound to cover your questions.
Please be wary though, the industry surrounding Intellectual properties is full of scam artists. Just be skeptical of any communication unless it is from a proper IP lawyer or the IP office themselves (unsolicited invoices etc).
Here is a link to the IP office.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/intellectual-property-office
All the best
David