# Is "Not all who wander are lost" copyrighted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087 "2009-09-14T21:05:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087/1 "2009-09-14T21:05:29Z")
(For the three Dopers who don’t know, the phrase is a famous line of poetry from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.) Can single lines from book/poetry be copyright-able? I assume it has to be a notable and distinguishable line (i.e. nobody can copyright “The end”). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087/2 "2009-09-14T21:18:53Z")
So far as I know, the shortest thing for which copyright has been successfully defended was a one-liner by Ashleigh Brilliant (which, obviously, I can’t reproduce here legally). But that was both longer than the Tolkien quote, and a “complete work” in its own right (as opposed to a fraction of a poem, or a minuscule fraction of a book), so I would imagine that “Not all who wander are lost” would not be copyrightable. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087/3 "2009-09-14T21:24:26Z")
As a historical sidebar, note that the copyright status of the Lord of the Rings itself was under serious question for quite some time. > **[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia](https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&pg=PA550&lpg=PA550&dq=copyright%2Bstatus%2B%22lord%2Bof%2Bthe%2Brings%22&source=bl&ots=hgGBeI8cXf&sig=HTM1v_dLigBLvEElINodLsjm9M4&hl=en&ei=_LOuSvqmEZOw8Qb6zMzHCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=copyright%20status%20%22lord%20of%20the%20rings%22&f=false)** > > A detailed work of reference and scholarship, this one volume Encyclopedia includes discussions of all the fundamental issues in Tolkien scholarship written by the leading scholars in the field. Coverage not only presents the most recent scholarship... ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087/4 "2009-09-14T21:53:48Z")
I have a shirt containing that slogan, under a pair of hiking boots. It’s not attributed, and there’s no copyright sign by the slogan or the artwork. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087/5 "2009-09-14T22:19:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I have a shirt containing that slogan, under a pair of hiking boots. It’s not attributed, and there’s no copyright sign by the slogan or the artwork. That’s what made me ask the question. I thought the shirt was a neat concept but I didn’t like the way it was carried out so I searched for other designs. When I didn’t find any it made me ponder whether your shirt designer was the only one who had rights to use the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087/6 "2009-09-15T00:19:03Z")
A single sentence like that would probably be allowed under fair use. It’s only a tiny portion of the work. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087/7 "2009-09-15T01:48:30Z")
You probably mean this: [http://www.jakeslakeplace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3948](http://www.jakeslakeplace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3948) I have that shirt too. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087/8 "2009-09-15T02:07:33Z")
I’d buy it in a heartbeat if it was a backpack instead of hiking boots! ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087/9 "2009-09-15T04:36:23Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > You probably mean this: [http://www.jakeslakeplace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3948](http://www.jakeslakeplace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3948) > > I have that shirt too. Me too! I also used to have this on a bumper sticker. It did note Tolkien as the author. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-copyrighted/510087/10 "2009-09-15T07:12:37Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > You probably mean this: [http://www.jakeslakeplace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3948](http://www.jakeslakeplace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3948) > > I have that shirt too. Mine is an olive-green long-sleeved tee, from the Grand Canyon.