In writing a novel, is it ok to use names of other books, actors from real life, or simply brands???

Question

Or is it an infringement to even make an alussion to them....would you need to get permission to use for example that a character is watching a certain TV show and feels in a certain way about it?? or how the character has a secret crush from a known actress.........anyways can somebody clarify what can be used and what cant??? THANKS!!!

Answer 1

Some names and products are considered public domain and as long as you aren't creating a story about the people or products specifically you are pretty safe.  Some actors find pop-culture references about them and their characters to be flattering, I doubt they will come out of there way to sue you if you keep any bad-mouthing to a minimum.  Positive stuff is always a plus and again you're not likely to be sued.  If you have an agent or publisher most of them will 'vet' the work that is to see which public figures or references you used and remove or suggest changes for the ones that you can't get away with.  You can even pay someone to 'vet' a manuscript for you and they will research your name dropping for you.  I'm not sure what 'vet' means exactly or if I'm using the right term but I'm pretty positive (ok so I wikipedia(ed) the term and it was once used in horse-racing when having a vetrinarian give approval for a horse to race it now is used to mean evaluate, check and gather intelligence, very clandestine.)  

     Despite having had two books published (romances) I'm still backward when it comes to the publishing industry.  I also work for the Government in the Intellectual Property Rights area (which is tradmarking of product names etc.) and yeah Elvis and Marilyn Monroe are public domain in certain instances but in others their estates hold the purse strings.  Yet Graceland didn't bother to sue Dean Koontz for his use of Elvis' ghost in 'Odd Thomas' so I'm sure that House, Bones, nor Alec Trebek would come bearing torches and pitchforks in the night if you referenced them in a small, non-political, non-biased, flattering and harmless way.

Answer 2

The things - available brands, names of shows/movies/books, famous people - you are describing are all considered fair use. You don't have to get anyone's permission to say that your main character loves Oreos, watches "LOST" and has a big crush on Evangeline Lilly, and only wears Nike sneakers. You can even say that your character hates Oreos, thinks Evangeline Lilly needs to wash her hair, and turns off "LOST" every time it comes on - throwing his Nike sneaker at the TV. This is a great way to characterize the people in your writing.

What you CAN'T do is make false claims about a product or person. You can't say that Oreos cause cancer unless you have a study to back it up. You can't say that Evangeline Lilly once murdered someone, unless your book is quite obviously a spoof. Making false claims is considered libel, and damaging to the brand/person, and they can choose to sue you for it. But I don't think that's what you're describing here.

Answer 3

I would think it would be fair use, but I would also do the research first... .

Answer 4

well im not 100% sure but you should look into it.i think it wont be a problem as long as you dont make the character or tv show look bad it should be fine.