I did some research and there is a large list of words and I mean just words that are trademarked and require permission to use. Believe it or not Just simply the word Marine if it pertains to the military is trademarked and requires a license to use.
Using it occasionally here and there is not going to be an issue I would think, but writing a book and using all those words and such could be big trouble. I found the military wives website and it uses that quote I used in the book name and chapter one. It talks about copyrights and such. It seems like it is going to be more problems than it is worth. I don’t want to get in trouble legally and it is such an important part of my book. I don’t know how I am going to rewrite this to be what I wanted it to be. I had a specific plan in mind and now I find all this stuff is trademarked and needs licensing to use.
I am glad that I got the inclination to look it up. The thought popped into my mind. The government in any form is something I don’t want to get involved with.
And chapter 2 about the skimpy dressing on base is against the dress code which I completely forgot about. I should have remembered. My ex-husband couldn’t get out of his car on the way to the base if he was in his camouflage. They were not allowed to be worn off base. I don’t know if I knew the dress code when I was dressing like that, but I didn’t get out of the car for the most part anyhow.
This really sucks. My whole project has come to a halt.
Tessa –
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian
Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com
Were it ficitonalized, you could just create your own branch but since it is fact based…have you pondered being less specific about what branch of military is involved? They can’t copyright a thesaurus and generic terms. If your experience is simply about being in a militaristic family, I think you can paint that portrait with less specific but legally safe synonyms and such. Just a thought.
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I am thinking about it. It will change some things for sure. The whole thing was the fact that the specific branch had that quote about issuing a wife and it was so much part of the whole thing including the title. Right now I am trying to get a new title and then will have to restart where I was and see how I can word it to be more general or generic. I can do the part about the submarine and his brother as there aren’t submarines in the other branches. Just have to think and pay attention when I write. Depressing though and I was so excited.
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Hmmm
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Great thought you got
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Not looking for a legal battle.
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Ok
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