Copyrighting my own quotes?

[2017crafter]

Hi

Not sure if this has been asked before but is it possible to copyright my own quotes and poems? I see a lot of people doing the same thing and presume there’s no copyright involved in what appear to be generic quotes eg ‘Your one in a melon’ ‘I can’t parent today’ etc. If I make my own quotes up how do I ensure they don’t get copied?

thanks in advance

[UK Printed Mugs]

To quote another source “Copyright protection does not extend to titles, names, slogans or short phrase”.

[GoonerGary]

Although, be aware that some of these short phrases can be trademarked. "I'm silently correcting your grammar" was trademarked last Christmas in the USA much to the annoyance of many sellers.

[pisquee]

Look at all the big brands, trademarks, logos, slogans, characters etc that are very heavily copyrighted, and see how it stops all the sellers ripping off their IP....

[GoonerGary]

That's true, there's more money to be made ripping off film characters and people know full well that what they're doing is illegal, but a common phrase which wouldn't qualify as a trademark can still be approved and you can get caught out down the line.

So to answer the original question, you would need to trademark those phrases and you'll spend the next few years policing them because they will all get ripped off if deemed popular.

[2017crafter]

Thank you. I believe trademarking can be quite expensive though?

[GoonerGary]

Very expensive and that only covers the UK. You need to pay a lot more to add USA, Canada, Australia if selling worldwide. For some T shirt companies, identifying potential new trademarks is part of their business model to try and dominate the market.

Once you realise that one of your slogans is selling well, it will already have been ripped off by your competitors. You've now lost your opportunity to trademark it.