Its amazing to see how specific and complex copyright has already become. Copyright has already developed from full works, to sentences, to phrases, and now to now words. Not just a word, but the expression and pronunciation of a single word. Looking through an article on 5 Everyday things you won’t believe are copyrighted, among the rediculous copyrighted things like living species and the phrase “Super Bowl,” one of the most intriguing is the copyright on the word “yup.” Dave Hester from Storage Wars copyrighted the word “yup.” Problem is, an article in the NY post explains that rapper Trey Songz’ lawyer took Hester to court for using the same word and making tshirts and hats out of the word. Hester argued, “the main difference is that Songz’ version “resembles an animal-like or nonhuman squeal which begins with a distinct ‘yeeee’ sound before finishing with a squeal-like ‘uuuup’ sound,” as opposed to Hester’s own “monosyllabic sounding guttural auction bidding phrase.” Hester tried to fight back: “Hester’s suit seeks unspecified damages and a court order barring Songz from “interfering” with his use of “YUUUP!” which Hester trademarked in September.” Songz’ lawyers never responded to the statement, probably because they didnt expect Hester to fight back. The two words actually have different expressions.
That’s interesting, but then I feel like people would fill books with fluff to make them thicker. Also if an author marks there book at a high price but it is quickly realized by consumers not to be worth that amount then the ratings will probably reflect that.
I don’t think that books are based solely on merit right now. There are many factors included. The work put into the book by the publisher (marketing, editorial, advertising, design, interns, etc.), the cost of the paper used, the author’s salary/royalties/etc., and the expected desire of the book.
I think a lot of factors are taken into consideration when pricing a book. i don’t think authors should be able to price books based off of what they think the value is because they could easily over value their own work.