nuqneH?
That’s a typical Klingon greeting. Roughly equivalent to “Hello”, nuqneH? is pronounced nook-neck and literally means “What do you want?” Klingon is a made-up language developed for the Star Trek television and motion picture franchise. And that brings me to the topic of today’s post.
Are made-up languages copyrightable?
Arguments Against Copyrightability of Made-Up Languages
There are good arguments that they are not. The Copyright Act explicitly excludes certain subject matter from copyright protection eligibility. Processes, systems, and methods of operations are among those elements for which copyright protection is unavailable. Languages are based on underlying grammatical concepts or systems and are, therefore, arguably ineligible for copyright protection.
Also, it is probable that many made-up languages are not completely original and are based on other existing languages. For example, Wikipedia reports that it is commonly postulated that Klingon borrows elements from several Native American languages. As another example, others postulate that the made-up languages used by J.R.R. Tolkien’s in his trilogy the Lord of the Rings are based on dead and still existing languages such as Welsh, Scandinavian, Old Norse.
Attorney Theodora Michaels addressed the copyrightability of invented and constructed languages as part of her 2007 Dragon*Con Convention presentation on Copyright Law for the Creator of Fan Fiction. Michaels concludes that United States law is unclear with regard to the copyrightability of constructed languages. In her presentation, Michaels also refers to an opinion letter written by Robert P. Wade, the former General Counsel for the National Endowment for the Arts, who concludes in his opinion letter that it was not copyright infringement for the scholarly Journal, Tyalië Tyelelliéva, to include original poetry and prose written in the Tolkien languages. Both Michaels’ presentation and Wade’s opinion letter are worth reading for anyone wishing to delve deeper into the protection of constructed languages.
Creators of Made-Up Languages May Nevertheless Claim Protection
The arguments against copyrightability of made-up languages does not necessarily impede their creators and protectors from claiming such protection. Paramount claims copyright ownership of the Klingon language itself. In her presentation, Michaels shares the results of her correspondence with the Tolkien Estate which takes the position that the Tolkien languages are copyrighted works that cannot be used without a license. Michaels recommends taking the Tolkien Estate position with a grain of singë.
Unfortunately, in the world of rights clearance, such positions may be sufficient to stop unauthorized use when producers evaluate the risk of using copyrighted and other material without permission
A Klingon-Inspired Rights Clearance Query
In one episode of the television series, Frasier, Frasier Crane prepares to give a blessing at the bar mitzvah ceremony of his son. One of Frasier’s colleagues offers to translate the blessing into Hebrew. The colleague, who is a die-hard Star Trek fan, gets angry at Frasier after Frasier breaks his promise to attend a sci-fi convention and get him the autograph of Scott Bakula (Captain Jonathan Archer of Star Trek Enterprise). The colleague takes his revenge by translating the blessing into Klingon instead of Hebrew. Frasier ends up giving his son’s bar mitvah speech in Klingon. The rabbi is not impressed but Frasier's son's teen-age friends think it’s pretty cool.
My query. I wonder if the producers of Frasier obtained permission for the use of Klingon in that episode. Anyone know?
Until My Next Posting . . .
Qapla'
That’s Klingon for Goodbye. It’s pronounced kkhopla-uh and literally means Success!
