Can i copyright a phrase

The first three defenses have already been discussed, above. Fair use and parody are covered in considerable detail elsewhere on this Stanford Copyright and Fair Use website. In analyzing the fair use defense when short phrases are borrowed, a court will aggregate the phrases and weigh the value of the phrases in relation to the work. Or, put another way, are the phrases the heart of the work?

The more important the phrases are to the work, the harder it often is to win a fair use battle. The parody defense, although considered a branch of the fair use doctrine, has acquired its own factors and characteristics. Biting criticism suppresses demand; copyright infringement usurps it. Claiming fair use or parody as a defense has an unfortunate hitch.

From a real-world perspective, this often favors the litigant with the deepest pockets-that is the party who can last the longest in litigation. However, there are some cases where a borrower has a very strong argument that fair use will apply-for example, borrowing a few lyric lines of a song in a review or new article. But when the use of short phrases lacks some transformative value or fails to offer some insight or commentary-for example, copying phrases on a T-shirt-the fair use argument is harder to win.

Universal Pictures remains the most insightful guideline for the protection of short phrases-a literary phrase must be so idiosyncratic that its appearance in another work would preclude coincidence.

What produces this idiosyncrasy? In parody, it is the interposition of something familiar with something incongruous. In an epigram, it is the demonstration of a highly structured creativity. Nifty Foods Corp.

Skyy Spirits, Inc. CRA Mktg. Blaze Magazine , 58 U. Wallace , U. Harrison Co. Ga Palmer, F. Freeman , F. The phrases were based on metaphors comparing investing to driving a taxi. Some roll fast and some slow.

You can coin a phrase for, say, an organic grocery, but someone in home repair might be able to use it too. Simply coining your catchphrase doesn't create a trademark. To establish a mark, you have to use it in your business, for example, in your advertising.

Once people associate your phrase with your business, you have a "common law" claim to the trademark even if you don't register it with the government. If someone else in a competing business uses the same phrase, you can sue that business for trademark infringement if you coined the phrase first.

Registering an established trademark gives you better protection, though. It gives you nationwide coverage, where common law protects it only in your sales area. A phrase that the public associates more with a product or service than with its literal meaning has "secondary meaning.

It usually means a big investment in marketing or five years continually using the phrase for sales purposes. If a phrase becomes more associated with a business or service than its original meaning, it may be approved for trademark protection.

A famous trademark is well-known across all business classes. It is unique because it is legally protected in all classes. Any unapproved use of a famous trademark is prohibited because it could lower the famous trademark's value. Yes, as long as you use a disclaimer. The disclaimer has to explain that you don't own the un-trademarkable word or phrase, except when used in your mark.

Trademarking a phrase is a legal process with strict deadlines. Deciding what you want to protect and to what extent is up to you. You can have a brand, but decide not to protect that brand by registering it as a trademark.

Department of Commerce, the U. Patent and Trademark Office, or any other federal agency. For other assistance, please see our contact us page. Trademark, patent, or copyright.