Q: Can titles be both copyright and trademark?

A: Good morning,

Yes, titles can potentially be protected by both copyright and trademark law, though the specifics matter in determining the scope of protection. Here are a few key points:

- Copyright - Titles themselves are generally not copyrightable, because short phrases and names do not meet the originality requirement for copyright protection. However, in some cases a longer, more creative title could have enough original expression to be protected by copyright.

- Trademark - Titles and names can potentially function as trademarks if they identify the source of goods/services and distinguish them from others' goods. So an album or song title could be protected that way if it functions as a mark identifying the musician.

- A title that's short and just descriptively names the work's content likely doesn't function as a strong trademark. But a more distinctive coined phrase as a title could potentially be a protected mark.

So in the case of the album "If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power," the title itself likely does not have strong copyright or trademark protection. It's short and mainly just descriptive of the album's theme. But there could be more leeway to reuse it than if it was an extremely unique coined phrase that distinctly points to the musician as its source.

The key is whether the title functions as a source identifier in commerce. If so, then trademark could apply and limit reuse. But descriptive, informational titles generally have weaker protection.

A: It's OK the long and short about discussing things in writing is that happened historically, is that if you are writing, it is yours to write about basically as long as you are accurate.