Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and the Yahoo Answers website is now in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
Can you be sued for speaking Klingon?
...or using it any commercial way? I realize that the Klingons are a registered trademark from Star Trek, but has Klingon been so often used by Trekkies that the language is considered common domain?
2 Answers
- EliseLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
I thought this was an odd (but interesting) question so I looked it up.
Paramount has a copyright on the official Klingon dictionary, and other descriptions of the language. They have apparently claimed copyright to the actual language, but have never challenged anyone in court over using the language. It's unlikely a claim to language would hold up, due to the fact that it's information. Several sites point to a Supreme Court case that decided that lists of information cannot be copyrighted (only creative expression, thus the dictionary) and that language would fall under this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_v._Rural
If you tried to use Klingon to sell something related to Klingon (or Star Trek), they could possibly sue. If you use Klingon to promote something vaguely unrelated, especially if only spoken, I don't think they would have much of a case.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
PRAY TO GOD FOR THE ANSWER
