Can Song Titles Be Copyrighted?

[fpuhan]

I'm an awful lyricist, which keeps me from being much of a songwriter. But I do like to play around with chords, rhythms and leads. Sometimes noodling leads to inspiration.

So it is today. I'm developing an instrumental piece that I really like. Inspired by a recent trip I took, I decided to name it for a place I visited.

On a whim, I went to AllMusic.com and found that there was already a song by the same name listed there. It's not a common name, so I was a bit surprised and disappointed that my "original" name wasn't so original.

Now, do I simply find another name for it, or am I free to use the title, as only the contents of a song can be copyrighted? I don't wish to step on someone else's toes.

[LAPlayer]

No. They are not. Call your song what you want.

Originally Posted by fpuhan

..I'm an awful lyricist, which keeps me from being much of a songwriter.

Don't tell that to Elton John. He's a ... mediocre... lyricist but by working with Bernie Taupin he's done okay.

[Coler]

In Ireland the title to a song could qualify as a literary work.

It would depend on how singular the title is. A question of fact and degree. Something long and unusual more likely to qualify than short and generic.

The title might also be protected as part of the lyrics.

As with a melody, it requires a contextual assessment of how similar the two competing works are.

In practice it is very hard to infringe copyright of a song title in the absence of extraordinary similarity to a highly original/singular existing song title.

I mean maybe for example "Bohemian Rhapsody". Even then I dont think so as long as the two songs could not be mistaken for each other.

You would also assess overall similarity. If I wrote an acoustic ballad called Bohemian Rhapsody I'd be fine insofar as copyright on the title is concerned.

[fpuhan]

Thank you for your replies. My Plan B was to add a word of two to the title to make it (hopefully) unique. I guess I don't have to.

(The first world problems we deal with, eh?)

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by LAPlayer

No. They are not. Call your song what you want.

^^^^^
This!

I have at least one original song where the title has been in use. I didn’t know that when writing it...it’s the title that works best for the song, so I don’t care. Also, it’s not like the title is an iconic one or that my song will ever reach any notoriety. That said, when you’ve determined that the exact title is in use, it’s understandable to perhaps want to differentiate if it can be done without adversely affecting the song.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Titles cannot be copyrighted.

[gwlee7]

Originally Posted by LAPlayer

No. They are not. Call your song what you want.



Don't tell that to Elton John. He's a ... mediocre... lyricist but by working with Bernie Taupin he's done okay.

I wrote a song called "Poor old Bernie Taupin" about how he would be bagging groceries if he wrote songs today.

[fantex]

“They don’t write like that anymore!”

[SongwriterFan]

No, song titles can't be copyrighted.

I am now wondering, though, if there's an exception: a friend and I have written (just arm wrestling over the final lyrics in a few spots) that uses song titles and/or phrases from a major artist for just over 50% of the words in the song! Amazing that we could pull this off and still have the song make sense.

[ljguitar]

Hi all…
Imagine if only ONE song could be named "I Love You…" or "Imagine…" without incurring copyright fees.

[Tahitijack]

A friend has written several books. I asked him if lyrics from songs can be included in a book without seeking permission from the owner of the copyright. Nope.

[fantex]

I know of several songwriters who participate in a weekly songwriting group. Each week a word or phrase, used as a writing prompt, is emailed out and they all have one week to write, record and return a song. Many times the writing prompt becomes the song title. I have purchased some of these songs from iTunes and I have multiple songs with the same title that are completely different songs.