From author and attorney Mindy Klasky:
REBEL AUTHOR TAKES ON MIGHTY EMPIRE
(A press release for our times)
A little more than a week ago, in a city not far away, author Mindy Klasky was putting the finishing touches on her new novel, then called REBEL RISING. Klasky had worked on REBEL for the past four years, adapting an earlier work that had failed to find its audience, allegedly because certain large store book buyers did not care for stories about children who rebel against the religion of their parents.
Due for release on February 28, with cover designed, ads purchased, and everything set to go, Klasky prepared to press the button for pre-orders to go live. But then, an ominous shadow darkened the launch pad: Disney announced a new Star Wars novel titled — you guessed it — REBEL RISING.
Link to the rest at Mindy Klasky
Here’s a link to Mindy Klasky’s books. If you like an author’s post, you can show your appreciation by checking out their books.
Or Scots against the English, or French in the Vendee or about the Satsuma Rebellion… once you get started it works a LOT of places.
REBEL RISING would also be a great title for a novel about the coming of age of a young man living in one of the Confederate states during the Civil War.
So what? Use the title. It isn’t exactly original anyway.
There was a similar flap with THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN a while back.
Big corps never worry about somebody else having the same title or character name.
Where it gets interesting is when it’s big corp vs big corp.
There are a couple of instances where movie studios have had to license their titles from DC COMICS because of trademark issues (STARMAN and MANHUNTER) and one where DC had to rename a vintage character from the 40’s to avoid confusion with their competitor’s trademark.
And then there is the matter of DEATHSTROKE, one of DCs most popular villains/antiheroes, who was originally introduced as Deathstroke the Terminator, with the idea that Terminators were a breed of super-hitmen. Right around the same time, James Cameron did a rif on slasher pics called Terminator…
By the time T2 came out DC decided not to fight it and just called their boy DEATHSTROKE…
Titles can’t be copyrighted but some fights just aren’t worth the effort.
Me, if I ever came up with an unused title that meant a lot to me, I would trademark it. Especially if it’s a series title. Even big corps have to respect trademarks though, as usual, some aninals are more equal.
I’m not sure there’s any problem with proceeding as she planned. Maybe it’s even a good thing. Just write a good, clear book description that avoids any tie to Star Wars (without mentioning it).
Ryan – There shouldn’t be any problem.
However, if Disney decides there is a problem, the author is either looking at spending a lot of money in legal fees to prove there’s not a problem or agreeing with Disney and changing the title later.
She’s just trying to avoid receiving a cease-and-desist letter, a copy of a takedown notice sent to Amazon, etc., etc.
Disney and some other movie studios and record labels have a well-earned reputation for suing when they’re upset regardless of the ultimate legal merits of their case.
Thanks, PG.
Wisdom, received and duly noted.
The odd part is that the copy for her Amazon page says it is part of the Dark Beast chronicles (or something like that) and still lists Rebel Rising as one of the future books…so, umm, she’s still going to use the title?
While the copy looks like “hey, isn’t it fun being indy”, my cynical side reads it as “hey, how can I refer to star wars, Disney, rebels and get lots of potential extra hits that have nothing to do with my book”.
P.
Reminds me of all the people confused by and who left angry reviews over The Cloud Atlas when the Tom Hanks movie came out. They weren’t expecting a novel set during World War II in Alaska, for some curious reason.
This Cloud Atlas and the “other” slightly more famous Cloud Atlas were also released in book form within a month or two of each other.
Edit: Just noticed that the top Amazon review is actually for the wrong Cloud Atlas. Ouch.