# Naming bands after book titles **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 1, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-bands-after-book-titles/822269 "2018-10-01T15:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-bands-after-book-titles/822269/1 "2018-10-01T15:56:40Z")
What permissions(if any) are needed to name a band after the title of a book? Let’s say I wanted to name my band _Harold And The Purple Crayon_ or _Cujo_-do I need permission to do this? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-bands-after-book-titles/822269/2 "2018-10-01T16:06:13Z")
IANAL, but I don’t thing that titles can not be copyrighted. I have two books with the title “Millennium”, and two with the title “Russian Spring”. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-bands-after-book-titles/822269/3 "2018-10-01T16:20:10Z")
It’s true that titles cannot be copyrighted. However, certain titles may have been trademarked. That would be rare but checkable at the [Trademark Office Database](https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/search-trademark-database). Harold and the Purple Crayon is not there but Purple Crayon is, in connection with the movie, and so is Cujo, albeit as “Smart home security device for protection against and monitoring of malware, hacks, unauthorized data and programs, and virtual intrusions.” I can also find Catch-22 and 1984, neither of which are connected to the books. My guess is that many bands have named themselves after novels, famous or otherwise. Go right ahead and if you run into legal trouble be sure to let people here know. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-bands-after-book-titles/822269/4 "2018-10-01T16:22:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Let’s say I wanted to name my band _Harold And The Purple Crayon_ or _Cujo_-do I need permission to do this? There are plenty of bands who’ve \*already \*done this. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-bands-after-book-titles/822269/5 "2018-10-01T16:26:46Z")
IANAL either, but believe **E-DUB** is correct - in most cases, book titles are too generic to copyright. However, this doesn’t stop an an author from going through a trademarking process. Which would be an easy thing to find out. It should be stated in the title itself TM. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-bands-after-book-titles/822269/6 "2018-10-01T17:32:29Z")
How about character names obviously derived from books/media? I’m thinking about the fictional band [Priss and the Replicants](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22priss+and+the+replicants%22&oq=%22priss+and+the+replicants%22&gs_l=mobile-heirloom-serp.12..0i22i30l2.3073.59382.0.60855.64.41.20.3.3.8.2016.30355.0j5j3j2j4j5j14j6j1j1.41.0....0...1c.1.34.mobile-heirloom-serp..21.43.12197.4KBd8SlG5Sw) from _Bubblegum Crisis_. If I named a band that, could I be violating two levels of trademark? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-bands-after-book-titles/822269/7 "2018-10-01T17:34:11Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > How about character names obviously derived from books/media? I’m thinking about the fictional band [Priss and the Replicants](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22priss+and+the+replicants%22&oq=%22priss+and+the+replicants%22&gs_l=mobile-heirloom-serp.12..0i22i30l2.3073.59382.0.60855.64.41.20.3.3.8.2016.30355.0j5j3j2j4j5j14j6j1j1.41.0....0...1c.1.34.mobile-heirloom-serp..21.43.12197.4KBd8SlG5Sw) from _Bubblegum Crisis_. If I named a band that, could I be violating two levels of trademark? It’s not in the trademark registry. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-bands-after-book-titles/822269/8 "2018-10-01T19:33:37Z")
Note that if _The Hounds of the Baskervilles_, for example, is trademarked for a series of books/movies/whatever, this wouldn’t necessarily stop you from trademarking the phrase for other products such as a band name. (Trademark confusion/dilution gets complicated and once lawyers decide to jump in, you may want to jump out.)