Using real places and brands in a story

I cant see any reason why not.. Lots of writers do. Its necessary if your placing your characters in a certain setting.. assuming your writing from a "real story" point of view (ie not fantasy/other world setting)

I think there might sometimes be a brand name / copyright issue (unless the product is such a household item that it's used interchangeably with another term, such as Hoover, etc.) But then, for a really well known brand name, the company might even be glad of free publicity...

Winter_Rose said:

That makes sense.

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Like, for example, in NYC one of the tallest buildings for years was the Woolworth Building. Hard to claim copyright restrictions about such a well known feature and reference!

No copyright issue for that type of thing.. basicly can you mention it in conversation.. then you can write it in a story..

Copyright would apply more to something where your using it to sell a product.
For instance you invent a soda & then try to sell it by calling it Coke or Pepsi.. your gonna be in trouble.

Writing "Sophie took a sip of the lukewarm pepsi & spat it out as the rancid taste flooded here senses"

Not copyright protected...

Runswithdogs said:

No copyright issue for that type of thing.. basicly can you mention it in conversation.. then you can write it in a story..

Copyright would apply more to something where your using it to sell a product.
For instance you invent a soda & then try to sell it by calling it Coke or Pepsi.. your gonna be in trouble.

Writing "Sophie took a sip of the lukewarm pepsi & spat it out as the rancid taste flooded here senses"

Not copyright protected...

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LOL.

Whereas, "the biplane flew over the Woolworth Building, and King Kong tried to grab the lady piloting it" would not raise matters of copyright!

The only thing I can think of that might be a copyright issue is if you were to use something that is trademarked in the actual title of the book... Like "Pepsi Cola Hollow"

May or may not be an issue but I would guess if your using it to sell the book then you might get a letter from Pepsi...

Runswithdogs said:

The only thing I can think of that might be a copyright issue is if you were to use something that is trademarked in the actual title of the book... Like "Pepsi Cola Hollow"

May or may not be an issue but I would guess if your using it to sell the book then you might get a letter from Pepsi...

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Apparently also in the Middle East for years some companies had to choose whether to sell to some Arab countries or to Israel, whether Coke or Pepsi, etc. (yes, really!) because one brand would not be allowed into certain countries if it went to Israel. I'm not sure it's like this any more, though.

Winter_Rose said:

I saw a programme on TV where a guy at a local restaurant got in trouble for naming a burger after a famous person:
http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/22/mark-...urant-renames-burger-named-after-him-5639467/

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Well, you can guess:

Day 1:

"Labour party complains about someone's Mandelson hot dog. The Conservatives, in turn, said they couldn't see the problem."

Day 2:

"Conservative Party complains about someone's Teresa May hot dog. The Labour party, in turn, said it couldn't see the problem."

And so it goes...

Winter_Rose said:

Thanks guys for the help.

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YW .

Runswithdogs said:

No copyright issue for that type of thing.. basicly can you mention it in conversation.. then you can write it in a story..

Copyright would apply more to something where your using it to sell a product.
For instance you invent a soda & then try to sell it by calling it Coke or Pepsi.. your gonna be in trouble.

Writing "Sophie took a sip of the lukewarm pepsi & spat it out as the rancid taste flooded here senses"

Not copyright protected...

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Your example made me chuckle!

Winter_Rose said:

I was wondering if authors are allowed to use real place names in a story, for example a name of a shop or a brand. What are the limits to story writing?

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If it's real, you can write about it. The limits are defamation. Opinions aren't libel, so you (or your characters) can say that Coke sucks. Making false claims about illegal or unethical practices, on the other hand, can be libel. So you can't say that Coke funnels money to terrorists.

faroukfarouk said:

I think there might sometimes be a brand name / copyright issue (unless the product is such a household item that it's used interchangeably with another term, such as Hoover, etc.) But then, for a really well known brand name, the company might even be glad of free publicity...

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It's kinda the opposite. Famous brands don't like their product being used as common verbs. Google wouldn't like "Joe googled the address." and Xerox famously hated "Joe xeroxed the form."

Back in the day, companies could lose their trademark for that sort of thing. These days, it's much harder to lose a trademark that way.

Runswithdogs said:

Copyright would apply more to something where your using it to sell a product.
For instance you invent a soda & then try to sell it by calling it Coke or Pepsi.. your gonna be in trouble.

Writing "Sophie took a sip of the lukewarm pepsi & spat it out as the rancid taste flooded here senses"

Not copyright protected...

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That's a trademark issue and is generally unrelated to copyright. (But see below.)

Winter_Rose said:

Well, I've kinda based the story on the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. But instead of the ghost going around scaring the bejesus out of everyone, he's searching for his long lost sweetheart.

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Ichabod Crane and his zany cohorts have long been Public Domain. Use as much of the story as you want.

In general, anything published before 1923 is Public Domain, and it no longer gets copyright protection. That's under US law, other countries may differ.

faroukfarouk said:

LOL.

Whereas, "the biplane flew over the Woolworth Building, and King Kong tried to grab the lady piloting it" would not raise matters of copyright!

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King Kong is a famous mess of competing copyright claims. The first movie came out in 1933, so it is still protected by copyright laws, but who holds which rights to what is a tangled mess.

Products (like Pepsi) are trademarked. Characters (like King Kong) are copyrighted, even if they're not human (or even alive). Recently, the courts ruled that the Batmobile is a character and is protected by copyright.

Runswithdogs said:

The only thing I can think of that might be a copyright issue is if you were to use something that is trademarked in the actual title of the book... Like "Pepsi Cola Hollow"

May or may not be an issue but I would guess if your using it to sell the book then you might get a letter from Pepsi...

Click to expand...

That might very well infringe on trademark laws. One famous case like that was with The Velvet Elvis nightclub. The Presley estate sued for use of the name, and it was finally determined that the nightclub could keep the name because they weren't specifically an Elvis club, but a club for gaudy 60s and 70s memorabilia like velvet Elvis paintings and lava lamps--the nightclub was essentially a parody of the Elvis phenomenon. However, the nightclub was prohibited from emphasizing the name "Elvis" in any marketing or advertising--so they had to essentially leave the name of the club off all their ads. That's because, as trademark owners, the Elvis estate held Right of Promotion, which really just means that they are the only ones who can use the name in marketing.


There's a pretty good thread about Copyrights, trademarks, pop-culture, people, and other real-world references in your novel at the Nanowrimo boards. I think it answers pretty much any general copyright and trademark questions that writers come up against. It might be of particular interest to writers who want to use song lyrics in their stories (short answer: Don't).

Are you familiar with the concept of product placement in TV shows and movies? There seems to be no reason to exclude written entertainment from product placement. I did it in my novel.