united-states copyright trademark
Do you need to do something when your movie&#39;s title has the same name as the title of another movie?
<p>Let's say your film's title is Black Pirate, which coincide with the name of a DC Comics superhero. Is this copyright infringement? What if Black Pirate also referred to the name of a character. Is this a problem? I am trying to understand how to navigate this copyright issue and see if I have to change the name of the character in my film. Thanks.</p>

<p>In the US at least, copyright does not normally protect titles and other short phrases, they are considered not original enough. (See the US Copyright office Circular #33).</p>
<p>However, titles, brand names, and slogans <strong>may</strong> be protected as trademarks, as may logos. A trademark is a word, phrase or symbol used to identify goods or services to  customers and others.</p>
<p>They key issue in a trademark case is: &quot;might reasonable people be confused into falsely attributing the infringing item with the trademarked item, or into thinking that is is associate, endorsed, or sponsored by the makers of the trademarked item, or comes from the same source&quot;.</p>
<p>When the name is the same and the general area and genre is similar, trademark protection seems plausible.</p>
<p>Marvel is known to be quite protective of its IP, and might well have trademarked such a title. A successful suit by a trademark owner could lead to an injunction (a court order) against future use of the infringing m,ark, and significant money damages, depending on the detailed facts.</p>
<p>A name such as &quot;Black Pirate&quot; is fairly generic, and might not receive much protection. On the other hand, if that name has become associated with a detailed and specific character or content, it might have acquired a &quot;secondary meaning&quot; and be more strongly protected.</p>
<p>Consulting an experienced trademark lawyer or other expert might well be a very good idea.</p>
