Question re: quote from pTerry

[RathDarkblade]

I'm writing a new story, and would like to use a Latin quote from "Small Gods", i.e. "cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum" (loosely translated as "When you have their full attention in your grasp, their hearts and minds will follow.")

I found out that this Latin quote is much older than "Small Gods". In fact, it's a quote attributed by Hunter S. Thompson to Charles Colson, a counsel for Richard Nixon. So I don't think there are any copyright issues.

What do you think?

 

[Penfold]

I had a chat with the legal department of Narrativia some time back because I considered putting some of Terry's quotes on mugs for sale and was also worried about copyright. They told me it was a definite no-no and that I couldn't.

It's rather amusing, really, considering Terry wasn't afraid to pinch other people's quotes. A lie runs around the world before the truth has got its boots on, for example, was also attributed to various other people before Terry. I suggest maybe changing a word or two should be sufficient to be on the safe side.

A lie runs around the world

 

[RathDarkblade]

Hmm. I think it all depends on what the quote is and whether it had been used before, doesn't it? *shrug*

If someone else had used it prior to Terry (and as you said, Penners, Terry wasn't afraid to pinch other people's quotes), then it's not copyright to Terry and therefore fair play, right? (As you demonstrated with the "Lie runs around the world" article).

 

[Tonyblack]

L-space translates the quote as: "When you have their [full attention] in your grip, their hearts and minds will follow". However, given the word "testiculos" - I suspect it's not their "full attention" you have in their grasp. . Wikiquote WARNING potty mouth language.

I guess Terry just translated the existing quote into his version of Latin.

 

[Dotsie]

Are planning on publishing, or posting on the internet for free? If no, it doesn’t matter.

If yes, copyright may still apply. You would have to wait until 70 years after the original author had died to be on the safe side - the end of 2075 if it’s Hunter S. Thompson.

 

[RathDarkblade]

I don't plan to publish for free, but I'll do my research into what fair price I can charge.

pTerry's Latin is, as I suspected, dog-Latin or "Latatian". I did some messing about with google translate last night and found an alternate translation, changing four words so that I don't infringe on pTerry's copyright.

Thanks!