The whiff of plagiarism is a stench hard to remove from any fair writer’s reputation. And I guess that might apply right now to the ex-president of Harvard. Fair or unfair. I have a feeling it was probably more of the latter and that there were other reasons for digging into her citations. (That sounds painful, I know.)
Made me think though. How many truly original thoughts are out there? I think about the sheer number of titles for books, songs, and movies and then try not to act surprised when more than a few share the same letters in the same order. I guess there are only so many permutations of usable combinations of 26 letters – there are about 170 thousand in the Oxford Dictionary Maybe a little more than my current vocabulary. Although, apparently we only need a few thousand for most of what we, as writers, churn out.
Those of us who love the English language somehow feel that we are special, but imagine if I was from Korea or Japan and had access to half a million words. Would that make me a better writer? Come up with a more original title? Just more words? Probably not.
Anyway, coming back to the title malarkey. I guess I was first aware of the lack of protection for titles back in the eighties: It was song titles then. The Power of Love* seemed a pretty obvious title at the time. Jenifer Rush, Huey Lewis and the News and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. All different songs, all hits within a 12-month window.
(OK smarty Anorak, there is also Crazy, Tonight, but the winner is “Intro” with nearly 700 instances, but I don’t think that counts. Next, apparently, is Home.)
I had always thought that you wouldn’t get away with another song called Yesterday. Maybe not, but there are quite a few other Beatles’ song titles that have been used.
It might not be against the law – Titles can not be copyrighted, but you’d have thought there must be a limit. So maybe if you were brave and stupid, you could get away with Yesterday. But what about Magical Mystery Tour? What about Yellow Submarine? We wouldn’t dare, would we? But there was more than one song called I Should Have Known Better. Maybe Jim Diamond should have known better, but it was a hit for him and the Beatles.
And what about movies? Now, this is a wee bit more complex as members of the Motion Picture Association of America can register a title on a first come first served basis and members agree not to reuse a registered title without permission. That doesn’t stop indie producers, but I think most filmmakers would think twice about running with When Harry Met Sally.
But before you run off with your killer plot-line where Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr fight it out for the same dream role in the new Spielberg adventure movie. (Things get out our hand, blows are exchanged, hit-men engaged, booby traps laid in the battle to win the part. And then you think you can get away with the title Star Wars.)
Some titles, especially franchise titles with merchandising attached have become a ‘brand’ with trademark protection. So, don’t try it on with Disney, The legal force is strong in that one…
Where am I going with all this? Good question. Thing is, all three of my first three book titles are already out there. I hadn’t even heard of the others when I wrote them.3 I may have even written my first draft before any of the others were even a twinkle in the writer’s eye. I have subsequently tweaked book titles 2 & 3, even though I probably didn’t have to. But, I have an imagination and the other writers might appreciate the gesture. (David who? I hear them grunt.)
So not to feel alone, I was looking for other much-used book titles and found that one that was listed was Safe House. Now, I didn’t know that there were at least 18 out there. And one of them is by a fellow Isle of Man author, Chris Ewan. So now I feel in good company because his Safe House is a really great read. It’s exciting and will make a great movie/series. Shot in the Isle of Man. Of course, it may have to wait in line behind a couple of my future big-screen hits…
And so in the end, maybe it’s just about accepting the best title that matches the book, rather than spending weeks crafting The Eccentric Giraffe Who Fell Down the Stairs while counting Electric Sheep.
Titles are important. Originality is a bonus. But remember, The Power of Love, The Power of Love and the Power of Love were all BIG hits.
And Safe House is a top book.
Looking to read an imaginative story that will keep you ged right until the last word? Why not check out “The Clearing” by David Armstrong? It is available on Amazon co.uk and Amazon.com.
The Clearing available on: Amazon.co.uk
The Clearing available on: Amazon.com
To find out more about DAVID ARMSTRONG the author visit his bio page.
Liked this article? You Might like to read: DREAM A NEW DREAM. Also by David Armstrong.
[FEATURED WRITER: DAVID ARMSTRONG]
