# How do I copyright a phrase? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 13, 2021, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-copyright-a-phrase/948630 "2021-08-13T21:51:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-copyright-a-phrase/948630/21 "2021-08-14T04:35:47Z")
Anyone remember a thread posted several years ago on one of the forums here, where the poster had taken a video of someone “very famous” doing something “amazing” in a chance encounter in a park in (I think) London, which was “guaranteed” to go viral and the poster wanted advice on how to monetize it - but wouldn’t drop even a vague hint about who was in it or what amazing thing the person did? (The thread eventually petered out in mutual annoyance.) Wonder what happened with that. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-copyright-a-phrase/948630/22 "2021-08-14T04:38:42Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > [If only someone had thought to suggest that earlier!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-copyright-a-phrase/948630/4) I don’t see a link to that trainwreck of a thread in your post, which was the _entire_ point of my post. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-copyright-a-phrase/948630/23 "2021-08-14T05:41:36Z")
I recall reading once that for example, book titles and film titles couldn’t be copyright because they were too short - relied on trademarks instead. After all, the number of 1,2, or 3 work titles is kind of limited. (IIRC Monty Python had a skit about confusing two different songs called “Anything Goes…”) ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-copyright-a-phrase/948630/24 "2021-08-14T08:13:01Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Anyone remember a thread posted several years ago on one of the forums here, where the poster had taken a video of someone “very famous” doing something “amazing” in a chance encounter in a park in (I think) London, which was “guaranteed” to go viral and the poster wanted advice on how to monetize it - but wouldn’t drop even a vague hint about who was in it or what amazing thing the person did? Oh yes, [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-right-time-place-and-i-got-it-all-on-video/684014)! We never did get closure on that, although most of the guesses centered around Ian McKellen. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-copyright-a-phrase/948630/25 "2021-08-14T16:02:50Z")
That’s the one. And the thread got closed for some reason. Now we’ll never know! (I was under the impression it was something that happened in a park in London, but it could have been anywhere. The OP eventually dropped a few hints about the content, and said she did make a deal that netted a few ducats, but otherwise we were left in the dark.) ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-copyright-a-phrase/948630/26 "2021-08-14T19:33:37Z")
Th OP could try to register the phrase as a url. If the phrase sweeps the world, having the .com version of the could --possibly-- be a valuable commodity. The cost of maintaining it for several years should be under $50. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-copyright-a-phrase/948630.md?page=1)