Whether you can stop someone else from using your literary phrases is dependent upon the uniqueness and value of the phrases as well as the way in which you (and the borrower) use them.Ĭopyright disputes about short phrases end up clustering into three categories: So how many words do you have to string together before you get copyright protection? 10? 20? 100? It’s not a matter of numbers. Granting a monopoly would eventually “checkmate the public” and the purpose of a copyright clause to encourage creativity-would be defeated.
#Copyright infringement on big l put it on free#
Second, phrases are considered as common idioms of the English language and are therefore free to all. Phrases conveying an idea are typically expressed in a limited number of ways and, therefore, are not subject to copyright protection. First, copyright will not protect an idea. Such claims are viewed with suspicion by the Copyright Office, whose circulars state that, “… slogans, and other short phrases or expressions cannot be copyrighted.” These rules are premised on two tenets of copyright law. They’re often plucked and recycled in other literary, musical or artistic works or on merchandise.Ĭopyright laws disfavor protection for short phrases. A judicious choice of words can result in the perfect punchline, an incisive aphorism, a moral tenet, or, as in the case of a haiku-beauty.īut short phrases-perhaps because they’re so easily severable from larger works-are commonly the subject of theft. “There’s a great power in words,” wrote Josh Billings, “if you don’t hitch too many of them together.” No doubt about it, a well-turned phrase can have a powerful effect on a reader. I May Not Be Totally Perfect But Parts of Me Are Excellent: Copyright Protection for Short Phrases
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