Referencing popculture in your works

[Oversleep]

So how does it work? What can you reference in your work and what you cannot? If a character sees a comic book, can I name it? If they are listening to radio, can I quote the text of the songs?

If I have somebody similar to Steelrunner and that Speedrunner wants to briefly explain his power. can he say "I'm basically the Flash"?

And so on, and so on. How do these things work?

P.S. I want to know because I planned my stories with a lot of references to popculture.

[Quiver he/him]

From what I understand, it comes down to copyright law...which unfortunately varies from country to country.

Some things (generally 100 years or folder) seem to be in the public domain and can be freely referenced; the likes of Sherlock Holmes, for instance. There are also some things (like Jenny Everywhere) which are built as open source from the start and only require an acknowledgement of that fact in the copyright page.

However...modern companies also keep a much tighter leash on that stuff. Modern pop culture icons are very valuable commercially. You mention the Flash; that guy has had a comic for some 50+ years, two live action television shows, and an upcoming movie.

The image of the Flash is, therefore, kind of valuable. I'm not sure how referencing that kind of thing works, but I'm pretty certain it involves getting permission from the company/estate beforehabd.

...but, as I say, copyright law is finicky, and lacks international codification. What's public domain in one area might not be in another. So...it's complicated?

[Eagle of the Forest Path he/him]

I googled it and came up with this: http://nanowrimo.org/forums/writing-101/threads/249609

 

The answer you're looking for might be in there.

 

My two cents are: never reference a certain religion that begins with Sci- and ends in -ology, it appears they have a tendency to sue.

[Otto Didact he/him]

From what I understand, you can use brand names, but not the text of a song.

[Talanic he/him]

Mentioning things - as in having a character be a fan of Firefly or Star Wars - is essentially a form of advertising for the fandom in question.  I don't know of it ever being prosecuted, and don't think it would draw attention.

 

Having a character declare himself to be the Flash carries a lot more baggage than that.  Can this character run fast enough to time travel at will?  Can he phase through solid objects, create tornadoes by running in circles?  If not, he's not that much like the Flash, and an "I'm fast.  Really, insanely fast," would do.  If so, however, he probably is copyright infringement on the Flash.

[Oversleep]

How about having a discussion on the whole secret identity/unmasking thing and having a character offer to borrow the other one Civil War to read as it has some good points relevant to the situation?

[Zay Wolfe]

I would read Ready Player One. It's a great story, not absolutely the best writing in my opinion, but a fantastic story all the same. It is chock-full of references to pop culture. The last showdown is literally Ultraman fighting Mechagodzilla. If Ready Player One can be published without much legal trouble I would look to it for inspiration.

Edited June 16, 2016 by Zay Wolfe

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

Get the characters in the book to ALL be fourth-wall breakers, that would be freaking amazing, like the characters would be arguing about something and look to you for an opinion. Plus they would be able to relate to YOU, through references as such (watch Deadpool)  

[Zay Wolfe]

This is an old post, but I just came across an actual legal precedent that applies directly to this. You can absolutely reference popular culture in your work and even borrow parts from other works as well but only if the work is considered transformative. Here's what the supreme court says on how to tell if a work is transformative.

Quote

… the enquiry focuses on whether the new work merely supersedes the objects of the original creation, or whether and to what extent it is “transformative,” altering the original with new expression, meaning, or message. The more transformative the new work, the less will be the significance of other factors, like commercialism, that may weigh against a finding of fair use.

So as long as your work transcends the original in expression or meaning a significant degree then it's fair use. 

Here's a link to an article about it for those curious.
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/fair-use-what-transformative.html

[edit]
Wanted to add to this for other users who may find this in a search.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Zay Wolfe