Do I have to change my article title?

5 replies
I wrote an article a few days ago and submitted it to several sites. I got a voicemail today from an author whose book shares a very similar title to my article.

My article: The Independent Computer Consultant: How to Get Paid On Time, Every Time

Her Book: How to Get Paid On Time, Every Time

I'm sure she'll ask me to change the title, which I don't want to. I just don't want to wait through the article approval process again, and I don't want to recreate my PDF files for the document sharing sites I've submitted to.

Am I legally required to change the title?

Thanks,
-Robert
#article #change #title
  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    From the .gov copyright site

    Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks
    You could check for trademark but I would be surprised if such a common phrase had been allowed as a trademark. This is not a unique phrase at all. In addition, only a portion of the title is the same.

    IANAL - but this isn't an issue I'd worry about much.

    kay
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      • Profile picture of the author 4aronline
        Robert

        I am the author - and I am not asking you to change the name of your aticles which includes WORD FOR WORD the title of my book. I am asking you to be aware and in the future please do some research.

        Obviously I track my book well enough to find posts, articles, newsletters, blogs...

        It was a great suggestion to TRADEMARK the name of the book. I have two others - so thank you. We will move to THREE - and yes it is copyright protected.

        I wish you well with your business. I am a small business supporter and wish you all the success in the world.
        Melissa
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author bretski
      "on time every time" is a popular slogan. Throw it into google and you'll find 1.6M pages.
      on time every time slogan - Google Search=

      I wish I could claim "Killer Tips" as mine
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