# Is "The Straight Dope" Internationally copyrighted? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 9, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922 "2015-12-09T08:40:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/1 "2015-12-09T08:40:45Z")
I mean the term, not the content of the website. I was wondering as there has been a book released called “The Straight Dope” about doping in sport. I put the question here rather than in the Cafe Society as it is not about the literary merit of the book. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/2 "2015-12-09T09:01:51Z")
It’s my understanding that ‘the straight dope’ is a generic phrase to indicate that one is speaking truth rather than bulltish or inuendo. IOW, saying, “I’ll give ya the straight dope on [something]” means you’ll explain or describe that thing without any fictional embellishment. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/3 "2015-12-09T09:05:59Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > It’s my understanding that ‘the straight dope’ is a generic phrase to indicate that one is speaking truth rather than bulltish or inuendo. > > IOW, saying, “I’ll give ya the straight dope on [something]” means you’ll explain or describe that thing without any fictional embellishment. Oh yes, I recognise that has always been the case but I wondered if the Chicago Times or Creative Loafing had ever registered the name for copyright as I understand they did publish some books. Nice to see you again 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/4 "2015-12-09T09:11:14Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Oh yes, I recognise that has always been the case but I wondered if the Chicago Times or Creative Loafing had ever registered the name for copyright as I understand they did publish some books. Reckon it would be nigh on impossible to register such a phrase. It would be akin to the estate of Steve Irwin copyrighting BLIMEY as their personal property. > [@](#): > > Nice to see you again 🙂 You too…how’s life wherever you are nowadays?? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/5 "2015-12-09T09:39:00Z")
You wouldn’t be able to copyright the simple pre-existing phrase “The Straight Dope” - it’s not a sufficiently original work. You might be able to trademark it. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/6 "2015-12-09T11:20:15Z")
Which, looking at the logo, we can see that somebody has. There’s a wee ‘registered trademark’ logo between the P and E. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/7 "2015-12-09T12:35:03Z")
As others have said, you can’t “copyright” a simple word or phrase. You can register it as a trademark, which indeed they have. Trademarks cover a specific usage, so if another newspaper set up a similar column and called it The Straight Dope, then they would have a problem. Similarly, a book dealing with answers to common questions might not be able to use the title, but one on an unrelated subject should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![What\_s\_That\_Smell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3bc359/32.png) [@What\_s\_That\_Smell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_s_That_Smell)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/8 "2015-12-09T12:58:47Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Reckon it would be nigh on impossible to register such a phrase. It would be akin to the estate of Steve Irwin copyrighting BLIMEY as their personal property. It’s CRIKEY. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/9 "2015-12-09T13:07:48Z")
> [@What\_s\_That\_Smell](#): > > It’s CRIKEY. “Blimey” is Ron Weasley’s catchphrase. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/10 "2015-12-09T13:22:51Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I mean the term, not the content of the website. > > I was wondering as there has been a book released called “The Straight Dope” about doping in sport. > > I put the question here rather than in the Cafe Society as it is not about the literary merit of the book. You’re mixing up copyright law and trademark law. Copyright law grants exclusive rights in an original and creative work of expression. It does not protect single words, short phrases, titles, names, or slogans. Trademark law grants exclusive rights in a term, logo, or other distinctive symbol indicating the origin of goods or services—in other words a brand name. Trademark law also does not protect something that is only an author’s name or the title of a work. A commonly understood term can be a trademark so long as it is not being used for its literal meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/11 "2015-12-09T13:38:56Z")
For example, “Star Wars” could not be a trademark for wars between stars (whatever that might be). “Star Wars” also could not be a trademark if all it were was a title of a single movie. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/12 "2015-12-09T18:30:29Z")
Titles are not copyrightable. Zillions of books have had identical titles; some have even been put out at the very same time on similar subjects. There are books titled Star Wars, for that matter, about the Strategic Defense Initiative. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/13 "2015-12-09T20:55:29Z")
Indeed, The Straight Dope is trademarked, but its protection is limited to a couple of[specific](http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4802:1iaoej.2.2) [uses](http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4802:1iaoej.2.4): > [@](#): > > providing, by means of a global computer information network, interactive and non-interactive computer databases containing information in a wide variety of fields; retail store services, available through a global computer information network, featuring a wide variety of consumer goods; providing information in a wide variety of fields by means of a global computer information network. and > [@](#): > > Newspaper Column ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/14 "2015-12-09T23:12:18Z")
So, given that titles and author names have no protection, and the trademark Straight Dope is limited to the uses in the post above, I could bring out a book, The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams, and there would be no come-back? Not that I have any plans to! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/15 "2015-12-10T00:05:44Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Indeed, The Straight Dope is trademarked You mean it’s “registered.” Trademarks need not be registered. That’s a pitfall of using “trademark” (or “copyright”) as a verb. It leads to misunderstanding of the source of rights. > [@aldiboronti](#): > > So, given that titles and author names have no protection, and the trademark Straight Dope is limited to the uses in the post above, I could bring out a book, The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams, and there would be no come-back? It might not be infringement of the “Straight Dope” trademark or copyright infringement but it certainly might be false designation of origin or unfair competition. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/16 "2015-12-10T00:39:19Z")
**kunilou** , your links expired. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/17 "2015-12-10T01:07:51Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > **kunilou** , your links expired. I guess you’ll have to start [here](http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4801:99rpya.1.1)and work your way through. But really, the quoted material pretty much says it all. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/18 "2015-12-10T01:29:27Z")
Nope, expired. Pretty much have to start [here](http://www.uspto.gov/trademark). Have no clue how to find what you want to link. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/19 "2015-12-10T02:14:08Z")
I believe that the PTO’s trademark search system does not create permanent URLs. You have to start a new TESS session each time — [http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4803:ullenn.1.1](http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4803:ullenn.1.1) Easiest way is to use the “Basic Word Mark Search (New User)” — Put _Straight Dope_ in the search term box and select “the exact search phrase.” That search gives you four results, only two of which are live: > [@Registration No. 2151502](#): > > Word Mark THE STRAIGHT DOPE > Goods and Services IC 038. US 100 101 104. G & S: electronic mail services. FIRST USE: 19960500. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19960500 > IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: providing, by means of a global computer information network, interactive and non-interactive computer databases containing information in a wide variety of fields; retail store services, available through a global computer information network, featuring a wide variety of consumer goods; providing information in a wide variety of fields by means of a global computer information network. FIRST USE: 19960500. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19960500 > > Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING > Serial Number 75976959 > Filing Date March 5, 1996 > Current Basis 1A > Original Filing Basis 1B > Published for Opposition May 27, 1997 > Registration Number 2151502 > Registration Date April 14, 1998 > Owner (REGISTRANT) CHICAGO READER, INCORPORATED CORPORATION ILLINOIS 11 East Illinois Street Chicago ILLINOIS 60611 > (LAST LISTED OWNER) STM READER, LLC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY DELAWARE 350 NORTH ORLEANS STREET CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60654 > > Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED > Prior Registrations 1152348 > Type of Mark SERVICE MARK > Register PRINCIPAL > Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20081027. > Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 20081027 > Live/Dead Indicator LIVE and > [@Registration No. 1152348](#): > > Word Mark THE STRAIGHT DOPE > Goods and Services IC 016. US 038. G & S: Newspaper Column. FIRST USE: 19730202. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19730202 > Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING > Serial Number 73171668 > Filing Date May 24, 1978 > Current Basis 1A > Original Filing Basis 1A > Published for Opposition February 3, 1981 > Registration Number 1152348 > Registration Date April 28, 1981 > Owner (REGISTRANT) Chicago Reader, Incorporated CORPORATION ILLINOIS 11 EAST ILLINOIS STREET CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60611 > (LAST LISTED OWNER) STM READER, LLC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY DELAWARE 350 NORTH ORLEANS STREET CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60654 > > Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED > Type of Mark TRADEMARK > Register PRINCIPAL-2(F) > Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20110517. > Renewal 2ND RENEWAL 20110517 > Live/Dead Indicator LIVE ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922/20 "2015-12-10T05:45:44Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > So, given that titles and author names have no protection, and the trademark Straight Dope is limited to the uses in the post above, I could bring out a book, The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams, and there would be no come-back? > > Not that I have any plans to! No. The action against you wouldn’t be founded on breach of trademark it would be founded on “passing off”. You would be accused of deliberately passing off your book as being a work by Unca Cec to gain from his reputation. This probably wouldn’t be a problem if your book title happened to be the same as someone else’s. However where - as in your example - it is utterly implausible that the commonality is a mere coincidence and must rather be a deliberate ploy to deceive, you could be liable. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straight-dope-internationally-copyrighted/739922.md?page=2)