# Can you copyright a fictional language?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-copyright-a-fictional-language/752247
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 15, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-copyright-a-fictional-language/752247 "2016-04-15T04:13:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-copyright-a-fictional-language/752247/21 "2016-04-18T01:35:13Z")
According to elvish dot org, artistic languages can be copyrighted as they are created for artistic reasons. One could reasonably argue that Klingon was created for artistic reasons (i.e. movies, TV shows and books) and is thus copyrighted.
[http://www.elvish.org/FAQ.html#copyright](http://www.elvish.org/FAQ.html#copyright)
[[QUOTE=elvish.org](http://QUOTE=elvish.org) FAQ]
**Since they’re “just” languages, aren’t Quenya and Sindarin in the public domain?**
No. Unlike Esperanto (which was explicitly placed into the public domain by its creator), Tolkien’s languages are not in the public domain. As the artistic creations of J.R.R. Tolkien, they enjoy the same copyright protections as his literary works, including but not limited to restrictions on the amount of quotation, purpose of use, and creation of derivative works.
**Klingon can provide a helpful example illustrating the point from a different but precisely parallel perspective. The creator of Klingon, Marc Okrand, has created a substantial vocabulary for his language. Not all of this vocabulary has been collected and published in a single compendium; various words and their definitions have been published in, for example, various books, in the Star Trek television shows and movies, and in the journal HolQeD. But no one would seriously suppose that it would be Fair Use to compile a complete lexicon of Klingon from these disparate sources and publish it, even for free and for purely scholarly purposes, without the permission of Marc Okrand and/or Paramount Enterprises.**
[/QUOTE]
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### Author:  [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-copyright-a-fictional-language/752247/22 "2016-04-18T03:05:30Z")
Apparently the Klingon language is more popular than Navajo.
[http://www.theonion.com/article/klingon-speakers-now-outnumber-navajo-speakers-709](http://www.theonion.com/article/klingon-speakers-now-outnumber-navajo-speakers-709)
> [@](#):
>
> “I know this is my home, but there isn’t anything here for me,” said unemployed Navajo nation member Leonard Murphy, 22, who dropped out of school at 14 and remembers little of the Navajo he learned in elementary school. “Everyone’s leaving, getting off the reservation. Now there’s nothing to do here except drink beer and watch Star Trek.”
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-copyright-a-fictional-language/752247/23 "2016-04-18T09:56:47Z")
> [@guestchaz](#):
>
> I’m startled everytime I hear “kapla” (q’apla?) used, but I’ve heard it 3 times this year already.
For the record, it’s _Qapla’_, or perhaps I should say _Qapla’_ [sup]©[/sup]. It means “Success.” I just looked it up yesterday when I heard it on an old episode of ST:TNG. I’ve never heard it outside Star Trek movies and episode, but it seems like it’s becoming a part of English like _grok_ and _frak_. Will people have to pay royalties to keep saying it?
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-copyright-a-fictional-language/752247/24 "2016-05-02T14:53:05Z")
An [amicus brief has been submitted](https://popehat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/035-1-Brief-of-Amicus-Curiae.pdf) arguing that the language cannot be copyrighted. It is a joy.
If you’re good with Klingon, you might want to check out the Klingon in the brief, to confirm that the attorney got it right.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-copyright-a-fictional-language/752247/25 "2016-05-02T15:08:08Z")
1. The suit against Axanar productions includes more than just using the Klingon language. So getting a pass on use of the language does not make the suit go away.
2. According to comments at Popehat by a member of the Language Creation Society (who are apparently supporting Axanar in their response to the suit) -
> [@](#):
>
> AFAIK Paramount is intending to file an opposition. I guess we’ll see if they take umbrage with the unauthorized use of “their” language in our brief.
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### Author:  [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-copyright-a-fictional-language/752247/26 "2016-05-02T16:54:56Z")
Along the same lines, can you copyright a programming language? Do any of the current languages (Python, C#, or JavaScript for example) have a copyright? I can see the language syntax diagrams and web pages of example code being copyrighted, but not the language itself. At best you can have a standards committee that would prevent you from adding features willy-nilly, but can they actually prevent you from using the language itself?
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-copyright-a-fictional-language/752247/27 "2016-05-02T20:15:12Z")
Programming languages themselves are not copyrightable. A given _implementation_ of a programming language, like a compiler or interpreter, is copyrightable. The specification (if there is one) is also copyrightable. Standard libraries distributed with your implementation are also copyrightable. Whether the _interfaces_ to those libraries are also copyrightable is a much thornier question.
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