Using song lyrics to name my game?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Appvism, Aug 3, 2013.

  1. Appvism

    Appvism Well-Known Member

    Feb 9, 2013
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    Hi all,

    I have a random question that i would like to hear your thoughts on! I am considering the possibility of naming my game after some words from a song and just wondered if anyone knows what permission/copyright issues are required (if any)?

    - Do I need to contact the band/publisher/whoever for permission to use?
    - What if the line is unique to said song (and includes a made-up word)?
    - Does the same thing apply if instead I wanted to name my game after a song name?

    Obviously, the band in question (and their fans) will know immediate its a line from one of their songs, but for people who haven't heard of it before, it'll be just a random name.

    I'm not actually sure if i were to try and contact the band they would actually reply back to me!

    Appreciate any thoughts on this!

    Cheers,
     
  2. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Think you should keep it short. Lots of people don't like apps which day things like Touc...cade etc as the app name is too long

    Plus searching for it may cause problems
     
  3. ThreeCubes

    ThreeCubes Well-Known Member

    Oct 13, 2012
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    Well I think this is more trademark issues if you looking a just a few words ie

    "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" May have some legal issues. But "I'll be back" won't.

    It's hard to know without knowing the actual title. But like psj3809 said the Title should be short anyway.
     
  4. Appvism

    Appvism Well-Known Member

    Feb 9, 2013
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    Appreciate the quick replies back! Interesting about keeping the name short, although I was also thinking of simply using the letters that make up the words as its shorthand form. But i understand your point, even though searching on the App Store is already naff as it is!

    By the way, the line I wanted to use was:

    Hey, I'm Not Synthetica (on iDevice screen, called: HINS maybe?)

    Its from the song called Synthetica by Metric (good song by the way!). I think the album maybe also be called Synthetica too...

    Any thoughts?
     
  5. saansilt

    saansilt 👮 Spam Police 🚓

    Mar 23, 2013
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    Way too narrow.
    If it was something a little less unique like that, then maybe it could work.
    It might still work but you have alot less room to manuver here.
     
  6. EvilArev

    EvilArev Well-Known Member

    Mar 24, 2011
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    I belive a title like that is not worth the effort. It's not catchy at all. It's the opposite of catchy. Save yourself the trouble and come up with another name.

    p.s. Yeah, not the help you've hoped for, but possibly equally valuable ; )
     
  7. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
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    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    Would you consider just "not synthetica"?
     
  8. Appvism

    Appvism Well-Known Member

    Feb 9, 2013
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    Haha, what you mean a game called "Hey, I'm Not Synthetica" is not cool and different?! :p

    Well i do appreciate the feedback and your thoughts, so thanks!
     
  9. EvilArev

    EvilArev Well-Known Member

    Mar 24, 2011
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    In my opinion it's utterly uncool. I have no emotional attachment to this song you're quoting (players won't have it either, unless you're only targeting the band's fans), so I can't get anywhere past how it sounds. It's different alright, but that doesn't mean it's good. "Coin grabbing and pipe plumbing" is also different, but for some reasons the guys at Nintendo decided to go with "Super Mario". Is there something in your game that makes the word "Synthetica" special? Why not derive from just "Synthetic"? Not Synthetic, Synthetic NOT, Unsynthetic, etc. If it's an option at all, that is : )
     
  10. MM_Adam

    MM_Adam New Member

    Jul 26, 2013
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    Melbourne, VIC
    One Direction released a song called "Best Song Ever". Naturally Directioners go gaga over the band waking up in the morning, so a new song is going to get a landslide of tweets, blog posts, videos, images, tumbls, etc, all associating that phrase with that song.

    So now whenever anyone has that conversation "Dude, what is the best song, like, ever?" And they search it - 1D will come up. SEO linkbait in all it's perpetual glory.

    So if you're going for a name, there are two reasons:
    1. It's a niche name, and users will find it through means OTHER than search (eg. Branded awareness, great reviews, unique hook) (eg Armello, Braid, Sworcery)
    2. It's a name for app store SEO (eg. Words With Friends, 4 Pics 1 Word, Word Puzzle, Dasher Car Racer, Zombie/Ninja/Pirate Action)

    Sounds like you're heading for (1), so do you have another mechanic to help users find the game? If not, sorry to say, you should consider renaming it! Plenty of resources on app store SEO out there that can help.
     
  11. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Ha ha nice post.

    I havent even heard of that band hes on about, unless the game has something 'vaguely' to do with the songs lyrics i dont see the point

    I would purposely avoid a game with a silly long title on the app store, just seems quite pretentious. (sorry!)
     
  12. Appvism

    Appvism Well-Known Member

    Feb 9, 2013
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    Thanks guys. Yeah, this is just an idea I have and its in no way related to either the game or SEO/ASO/sale purposes - more just a personal thing/preference really, because end of the day i'm building my own games and just fancied the possibility of giving it a different random name.

    Interesting to hear about the One Direction game and the SEO link bait stuff though...
     

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