Does anyone hold a copyright over the phrase "Resistance is Futile."?

I'm hoping to use a sampled narrator repeating this phrase in a section of the documentary on social change that I'm cutting together. It's improved drastically from the piece of **** I posted in the screening room a month ago.

Anyway... I want to use the phrase a few times. It's a 'popular culture' phrase, but it originated in Star Trek.
I didn't know that 'til I googled it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance_is_futile

I won't be using any audio, samples or visuals from Star Trek, and won't be referencing them in any other way.

So... do the creators of Star Trek hold the copyright to that phrase, or is it an idea and thus 'public domain'

Any ideas?
 
Thanks ZSteve! Copyright law brings me out in cold sweats.

Need someone to v/o it, btw?

I'm already using Emma from Ivona. She's cheap, upper-class English, pretty, and did a hell of a job on the casting couch.

http://www.ivona.com

*

Later on, we might need a bit of voicing because there's some phrases a computer narrator can't nail. Thanks for the support.
 
You've looked at the correct licence that you'll need from Ivona, right?

...I'm also pretty easy on the casting couch... just sayin'... :blush:


Good luck with the project :)
 
Names, titles, and other short phrases are not copyrightable. They may only be protected by a trademark.
Google 'short phrases are not copyrightable'. The first page to pop up should be the the one of the US Copyright Office, stating just that.
Careful with titles! They are often trademarked.
 
It's a 'popular culture' phrase, but it originated in Star Trek.
I didn't know that 'til I googled it

WHAT!!!??? You really didn't know that? It's so specific to a huge part of Trek. Boggles my mind, really. I really didn't know that the phrase was part of the popular lexicon outside of Sci-fi/Trekky circles. Wow - how could anyone be using the phrase and not be aware of this? It's like using the word "grok" without knowing where it came from. Hmmm.

Sorry, just curious, caught me off-guard.
 
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The phrase: "Don't take legal advice off the internet," comes to mind.

For starters, this phrase could be TRADEMARKED, not copyrighted. Which means you should do a search of the US Trademark office. This may be online.

Try and find the posters for the film that used it, and see if they used a TM or R(egistered) trademark notice.

Secondly -- You could alter the phrase. Be creative.
 
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