{"id":1302,"date":"2012-02-23T02:09:56","date_gmt":"2012-02-23T02:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greeverwilliams.com\/?p=1302"},"modified":"2012-02-23T02:09:56","modified_gmt":"2012-02-23T02:09:56","slug":"using-brand-names-in-your-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greeverwilliams.com\/?p=1302","title":{"rendered":"Using Brand Names in Your Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"When I started writing my first novel, On Tentherhooks<\/a>, I thought I would do well to include brand names in order to make for a stronger sense of realism. Who wants generic when you can have the real deal, right? I even went so far as to use lyrics from a couple of well-known songs as pivotal details in the story!<\/p>\n

Yes, by now, many of you are probably saying to yourself : what an absolute idiot<\/em>. And if you are kind enough to refrain from saying it, \u00a0I thank you. But I will save you the trouble and say it for you: I was an absolute idiot<\/em>. But at least I can say “was<\/em>” instead of “is<\/em>“. \u00a0Fortunately for me and much to the chagrin of any opportunistic copyright attorneys who happen to stop by, I fixed the problems in my work before it went to press. I found some great resources to help me navigate the tricky waters of copyright and trademark use in works of fiction.<\/p>\n

For me, my new rule of thumb is “when in doubt, leave it way the hell out” when it comes to questions of trademark infringement and copyrighted material, including brand names. You can include them, in some cases, but I decided to play it safe. Since I am indie publishing<\/a>, it’ll all be on me if it goes badly. The final version of On Tenterhooks<\/a> has been cleansed. And in the spots where I needed a specific brand, I made it up completely. I went so far as to create a band, a band back story and fake song lyrics for a small set of story details. \u00a0And if you find yourself in a similar situation of need, don’t worry – lyrics don’t need to be too deep in order to be believably popular. I give you Exhibit A<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Below are some of the resources I found useful regarding permissions, brand names, trademarks and copyright.<\/p>\n