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fire along the sky

This email came today:

Fire Along The Sky - it's a book title written by Robert Moss. Are you staying with that title? and I"m curious to know about Queen of Swords - is that part of the Wilderness Series? and Is It? or Is It not at this point? love your series, of course....... M

As I suspect these questions will come up again, I thought I'd answer here.

First, the title of the new book (number four in the series) was changed from Thunder at Twilight to Fire Along the Sky. This decision was not totally my own; Bantam has final say on titles. And yes, the title FAtS has been used before, by Robert Moss.

By law a title can't be copyrighted, and so they are often reused. According to the U.S. Copyright Office:

Names, titles, and short phrases or expressions are not subject to copyright protection. Even if a name, title, or short phrase is novel or distinctive or if it lends itself to a play on words, it cannot be protected by copyright. The Copyright Office cannot register claims to exclusive rights in brief combinations of words such as:
= Names of products or services
= Names of businesses, organizations, or groups (including the name of a group of performers)
= Names of pseudonyms of individuals (including pen name or stage name) = Titles of works
= Catchwords, catchphrases, mottoes, slogans, or short advertising expressions

Could you put out a novel called Gone with the Wind? Sure, if you can get your publisher to go along with it. How about Catch-22 or Pride and Prejudice? Yup, you can go right ahead. Is it a good idea? That's another question.

Confused? Well, copyright law is confusing, especially when you toss in trademark issues. Of course, my titles aren't copyrighted, either. In March of 2003 a new novel by Rosanne Bittner -- Into the Wilderness -- was released by Tor Books. In contrast, Moss's novel called Fire Along the Sky has been out of print for quite a long time. As you know if you read this blog, it wasn't my first choice for a title, but I do like it, and I'm very comfortable with it at this point.

And yes, the next novel in the series, the fifth one, is called Queen of Swords. It's the one I'm working on now, and coincidentally, I leave tomorrow morning for New Orleans to do some research and attend the re-enactment of the Battle of New Orleans, which is the centerpiece of the novel.

**the roadsign comes from Joker's site. Go have a look.

January 4, 2004 12:35 PM

Comments

Posted by: joanna at January 12, 2004 04:26 AM