Copyrighting a bumper sticker

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ciompaco

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In reading the copyright rules it states:

Names, titles, and short phrases or expressions are not subject to copyright protection. Even if a name, title, or short phrase is novel or distinctive or if it lends itself to a play on words, it cannot be protected by copyright. The Copyright Office cannot register claims to exclusive rights in brief combinations of words such as:

Catchwords, catchphrases, mottoes, slogans, or short advertising expressions


Is it really as simple as that or is there a way to copyright a phrase or saying for a bumper sticker?
 
Yep, it's pretty much that simple. Your slogans, if they are simply slogans, are not copyrightable.

If I recall correctly, a case several years ago, Cook v. Robbins, held that a short expression could be copyrightable if it embodied an original idea and occurred in the context of a larger copyrightable work. In absence of that context, your slogan is not copyrightable.

Slogans can also be protected under trademark (not copyright) if they become integrally associated with a product.
 
copyright art - bumper sticker

how would you copyright an original drawing which would be originally used as a bumper sticker?
 
What does this mean: "Slogans can also be protected under trademark (not copyright) if they become integrally associated with a product. " What does "integrally associated with a product" Like a slogan on a t shirt or other products?
 
What does this mean: "Slogans can also be protected under trademark (not copyright) if they become integrally associated with a product. " What does "integrally associated with a product" Like a slogan on a t shirt or other products?
Not what it means. Here's an example. If you put the word "Guess" on your t-shirt or blue jeans, you can't have a right in the word. If you want to create a brand of blue jeans called "Guess Blue Jeans" then that word or short phrase would be associated with the clothing line and would function as a trademark.
 
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