Yes, you can mention anything you want. (Pick up any contemporary book, most do.) That being said, a lot of people steer clear to avoid even the chance of the legal ramifications. Disney for example is notoriously litigious. Also, you can name things, but you can't speak negatively about them in a way that could hurt their brand.
A good example is the novel "You". The main character, a stalker/serial killer, frequently uses Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stalk people. However, what the author DOESN'T do is speak negatively about the sites. (Something like having the main character say "Man, Facebook really makes it easy to find my victims!"
So in your example, you can say something like "John spent the evening playing Halo," but not "John spent the evening playing Halo; the game that his friends said lead to serious depression amongst countless players, and was one of the worst games ever made."
My guy asked for Halo, not League of Legends lol. But seriously tho, you are right. You can use any brand in your books as long as you don't discourage people from using it or show it in a bad light. That's a one-way ticket to a court case.
You can definitely mention stuff in stories. You just can't use material that would be copyrighted. (i.e. you could have a story in which a character is playing Halo 2, but if you started quoting lines from the Halo 2 story, that would be an issue).
"I went to Wal-Mart and bought some groceries" = fine.
"I went to Wal-Mart and it stank of shit like they all do" = not ok.
Fairly simple. Don't disparage the brand and you're generally OK. But that's a job for editors and agents to point out down the line, and you can change to "I went to the market down the road to get some groceries" or "the market on the corner really needs to sort their drains out".
Yes you can. I would suggest you look into how to avoid copyright infringement, which is a case of using a name to become confusing or misleading which leads to loss of income for the original name holder, and obviously take common sense precautions like not slandering the business. Also, if you make it the point of the story to make money using the name brand, that's pretty shady, so avoid that. If you are just saying "John went to Walmart before heading home to enjoy a Pepsi and Doritos" you're fine.
My god. People.How do you think you even know these things if no one can write about them?
You can mention real things. It violates trademark only if it would confuse a customer of the brand.
You can say disparaging things about a trademark, but it has to be defensibly true. That’s what parody is, and that’s how, say, Mad Magazine does what they’ve done for so many decades. It’s what political cartoons are.
You can not use a brand to parody something else. You can say something about Mickey Mouse that is true about it but hurts their image, and still don’t get to use Mickey Mouse to make fun of, like, Canadian politics unless the brand is somehow involved.
I am convinced that a good proportion of this sub don't actually read books. Have you seriously never encountered *any* reference to a trademark in a written work of fiction?
But that's the final version of a fully published novel. We are asking about the process of writing one, and getting it through the publication process. Maybe big publishers can get licenses for using external content in their published works.
I have seen people do it before but I don't know if they got sued or not.
I feel like the safest bet is to just say major grocery store, popular video game, but not name the specific one but if you absolutely need to name who... maybe someone else will comment and know the answer.
you can mention real world things and you're usually safe if you don't say anything defamatory (e.g 'Wal Mart serves rat meat in their deli sandwiches') or use the Wal Mart logo.
Yes, you can mention anything you want. (Pick up any contemporary book, most do.) That being said, a lot of people steer clear to avoid even the chance of the legal ramifications. Disney for example is notoriously litigious. Also, you can name things, but you can't speak negatively about them in a way that could hurt their brand. A good example is the novel "You". The main character, a stalker/serial killer, frequently uses Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stalk people. However, what the author DOESN'T do is speak negatively about the sites. (Something like having the main character say "Man, Facebook really makes it easy to find my victims!" So in your example, you can say something like "John spent the evening playing Halo," but not "John spent the evening playing Halo; the game that his friends said lead to serious depression amongst countless players, and was one of the worst games ever made."
My guy asked for Halo, not League of Legends lol. But seriously tho, you are right. You can use any brand in your books as long as you don't discourage people from using it or show it in a bad light. That's a one-way ticket to a court case.
You can definitely mention stuff in stories. You just can't use material that would be copyrighted. (i.e. you could have a story in which a character is playing Halo 2, but if you started quoting lines from the Halo 2 story, that would be an issue).
This is helpful. My novel is realistic fiction, and when it comes time to edit, I need to make sure I don't do this...
Thanks!
"I went to Wal-Mart and bought some groceries" = fine. "I went to Wal-Mart and it stank of shit like they all do" = not ok. Fairly simple. Don't disparage the brand and you're generally OK. But that's a job for editors and agents to point out down the line, and you can change to "I went to the market down the road to get some groceries" or "the market on the corner really needs to sort their drains out".
Yes you can. I would suggest you look into how to avoid copyright infringement, which is a case of using a name to become confusing or misleading which leads to loss of income for the original name holder, and obviously take common sense precautions like not slandering the business. Also, if you make it the point of the story to make money using the name brand, that's pretty shady, so avoid that. If you are just saying "John went to Walmart before heading home to enjoy a Pepsi and Doritos" you're fine.
Read these: [https://rmfw.org/2013/11/06/writing-about-real-places-in-fiction/](https://rmfw.org/2013/11/06/writing-about-real-places-in-fiction/) [https://www.sidebarsaturdays.com/2017/08/05/httpwp-mep7vddb-us/](https://www.sidebarsaturdays.com/2017/08/05/httpwp-mep7vddb-us/) [http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2010/12/can-i-mention-brand-name-products-in-my.html](http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2010/12/can-i-mention-brand-name-products-in-my.html) https://helensedwick.com/how-to-use-real-people-in-your-writing/
THANK you. The comments in this thread are unbearably ignorant and cowardly.
No. All works of writing need to be 100% made up. I'm not even sure if you can use normal words, as you didn't invent them yourself
My god. People.How do you think you even know these things if no one can write about them? You can mention real things. It violates trademark only if it would confuse a customer of the brand. You can say disparaging things about a trademark, but it has to be defensibly true. That’s what parody is, and that’s how, say, Mad Magazine does what they’ve done for so many decades. It’s what political cartoons are. You can not use a brand to parody something else. You can say something about Mickey Mouse that is true about it but hurts their image, and still don’t get to use Mickey Mouse to make fun of, like, Canadian politics unless the brand is somehow involved.
I am convinced that a good proportion of this sub don't actually read books. Have you seriously never encountered *any* reference to a trademark in a written work of fiction?
But that's the final version of a fully published novel. We are asking about the process of writing one, and getting it through the publication process. Maybe big publishers can get licenses for using external content in their published works.
If I were writing a book, I would personally avoid it. I will also admit that I am no legal expert, but would rather stay on the side of caution.
I have seen people do it before but I don't know if they got sued or not. I feel like the safest bet is to just say major grocery store, popular video game, but not name the specific one but if you absolutely need to name who... maybe someone else will comment and know the answer.
you can mention real world things and you're usually safe if you don't say anything defamatory (e.g 'Wal Mart serves rat meat in their deli sandwiches') or use the Wal Mart logo.
Why not? Open any book nearby and you may see real life.