Same title zine as somebody else?

[Tee Rex]

So I have a zine called Sour Puss and before I decided on the title, I gave it a quick google to make sure it hadn't been used. I'm now up to Issue 3. Last night I was reading Zine Yearbook 9 and lo and behold there was an excerpt from a zine called "sourpuss" in there (one word, not two which is why it didn't come up in google searches),. I don't know what to do! I really love my title, but feel it's probably best to choose another. What would you do?! Argh!

[Dan 10things]

Is the other one still being published? If yes and they write it as one word and you as two, I think that's enough distinction. My zine was called 10 Things, unknown to me for many years there was a zine called 10,000 Things, it never really became an issue for either of us.

[Rick Bradford]

Yeah, I wouldn't sweat it, that sort of thing's bound to happen. I think I'd only consider making a change if I was worried about being confused with the other zine or reader confusion about the two became too annoying or -- maybe -- if the other publisher gave me grief about it.

[Tee Rex]

It looks like this zine is new too - it only has the one issue. If it was an established long-running zine, I'd probably be more inclined to change my title.

Theirs is also a comic, whereas mine is a perzine, so they're quite different. Also, mine has a fairly small print run, I don't it's ever going to get that popular and step on any toes anyway.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Craven Rock]

You're up to issue three, fuck it! I'd still say to keep it if you both used two words.

[Elaine]

Alter the title slightly. Like "Hey Sourpuss" or 'Sour Puss Green".

[Tee Rex]

Thanks Craven, Elaine.

That's actually a really good suggestion Elaine, wish I'd thought of that before - because I ended up changing the name. Ah well.

[Craven Rock]

Does anyone remember that feud between Maddie Tightpants' of the zine"Tight Pants" and the "(Wouldn't the World Be a Lot Better If Everyone Wore) Tight Pants" zine? When Maddie included postcards in her zine for readers to send to the author of the other zine asking her to change her title. That shit was funny! So hey, it could've gotten ugly!

[Tee Rex]

:o are you serious?! i actually already have changed the name (see previous comment) but i didn't think copyrighting a title was possible anyway?

also, i didn't name it to "cash in" on anyone's endeavour :s - i didn't even know it existed.

Mulnix said:

I would advise that you cease and desist immediately. I don't know if you've heard this, but the original publisher of sourpuss is quite litigious, and protective of any back-handed attempts to cash in on that lucrative endeavor. Your using the title could result in a lawsuit that might drag on for months or years.

[Tee Rex]

a photo of my face is under "gullible" in the dictionary?

[Elaine]

I googled sourpuss magazine as well as sour puss magazine and nothing came up. Sourpuss CLOTHING and a band and other things did, but no literature. If there was a magazine by a very sue happy guy, it'd be coming up in a google search. It may have been around years ago, but it's not on the radar anymore.

Just go ahead and use the name you want. Small publication runs usually are not affected by anything. Since you're not likely to put out more than 500 copies total, it's not an issue.

The only way I could see it being an issue is if there's a magazine called that in your same town, which may confuse people.

[Loserdom zine]

i recently saw reviewed in Maximum Rock n Roll a zine called Nosebleed #1, now there was a classic Irish zine that ran for 12 years and 22 issues also called Nosebleed. Boz who wrote it, used to have a fairly extensive webpage but that seems to be down now. the new one is from California and seems to be pretty good judging by reviews also on its 3rd issue now i think. not sure what my point is really but i guess thats the way it goes...