Copyrighting a name for a tarot deck

Can anyone tell me how to go about copyrighting the name for a tarot deck. I understand that the images would be my copyright, but what if someone else takes the name I have chosen before I finish and publish my deck???
Thanks for any insights on this matter
Kate

As I understand it, you can't copyright a name - but that's in the US and I don't know the laws in Ireland (if that's where you'll register the deck). The US copyright office has a page on the topic (http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html), so perhaps you could check for a similar resource in Ireland.

P.S. Good luck with your deck!!!

Have you tried googling the name to see if it's already been used? Given the number of decks already published (and out of print) it may already have been named as a deck.

Thank you for the information. I don't think we have the same system in Ireland, but it would make sense to register the copyright in the US, certainly the images, anyway. I did google the name and looked on this site too and found no other decks of the same name out there, but that doesn't mean that someone else(just like me) isn't working on something of the same name! I guess I will just need to work faster to get it into print!

To give you a bit of background to the deck, I started the first card nearly 30 years ago, and had a couple of them published in a magazine. As it was a personal project which didn't pay the bills it kept getting shelved until I had more free time. Then, one day, I decided to indulge in an online Tarot project and chose to paint a mandala for the 'task'. This task was to relate directly to the card drawn during the reading. My card was the Ace of Wands. So I went to work, or rather 'play' with the image, posted it online, and since then it has gone all round the world and I have received many requests for permission to use the image. It amazes me how a painting, done for recreation has made me more money and fame than much of my 'serious' work. But isn't that just the magic of Tarot for you!

My 'work in progress' deck is Eternal Cycles Tarot and you can see some of the images on
http://www.Eternalcyclestarot.wordpress.com. The blog is quite bare as it has only just been put up while I work on the website.

Thanks again for the advice. It's good to have the feedback

I don't know Irish copyright law at all Kate so please check this out more, but found this for you...

Q. How do I register my Copyright?

A. In Ireland, there is no registration procedure for owners of a copyright work. The act of creating a work also creates copyright. It is important that the originator of the work can show subsequently when the work and consequential copyright were created. There are two ways of doing this

- Deposit a copy of the work with an acknowledged representative (who may be a bank or solicitor) in such as way as to allow the date and time of the deposit to be recorded or notarised.
- Send a copy of the work to oneself by registered post (ensuring a clear date stamp on the envelope), retaining the original receipt of posting and leaving the envelope containing the copyright work unopened thus establishing that the work existed at that date and time.

Click to expand...

more here

I like your art a lot Kate, more than many I have seen. Of course I like some more than others, the nature of art vis à vis the viewer, but some are very evocative in my eyes and mind! Especially your Magician and Page of Pentacles.

You can't copyright the name or title of a work.

If you look at the A-Z list, you'll see lots of duplicate names: there are two Steampunks, for example. We seem to cope! Copyright is to protect real creative work, and making up a name doesn't really count. And imagine if you could copyright the names of characters in novels: authors would soon run out of options
.

Nice work Kate!

I agree with David that we manage just fine with duplicate names and not to worry about it too much. Even some movies have the same title.

Thank you all so very much! I understand now! and I feel I can relax about the whole thing. Which is great, so I can get on with my work, which is the important thing. Thanks for taking a look at the cards. I feel uplifted and energized by my contact with the Tarot community <3