The Titus & Rudolph Saga

Oh dear...

I've had an answer but, I'm still confused here's the first note I sent to them:


Hi, my name is Carol Wills and I write children’s stories. All my stories are about little blue bird called Titus and his adventures.

The newest story will have Titus getting lost and meeting Santa and Rudolph who help him find his way home as they deliver the Christmas presents to children.

Can you advise me on whether I need a license to use the name ‘Rudolph’ and how I obtain a licence if I do.

Sincerely
Carol Wills


And here's the reply:

Dear Ms. Wills,

Thank you very much for your inquiry. We have a very strong licensed merchandise and publishing program already in place for Rudolph and are not entertaining new content submissions at this time.

We wish you success in your endeavors.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Flom
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Character Arts, LLC
37 Pond Road, Bldg. 2
Wilton, CT 06897

Now, correct me if I'm wrong but, they seem to think I want to submit content to them but, I don't. So, I sent them this:


Dear Mr Flom,

Thank you for your swift reply to my inquiry. I understand you are not entertaining new content submissions and have no wish to submit to yourselves.

However, I would still like to know if I can use the name ‘Rudolph’ in my story without your express permission.

Sincerely
Carol Wills


Did I word the first one wrong? Am I a bit dim? Or is he saying fine go ahead? Clarification is needed I think. You never know I might get a book out of all this coming and going.

Clear answer...

...here's the final reply:

Hi Carol,

Yes you would need our permission to use the name Rudolph and, per my previous email, we need to decline the request for permission.

Jonathan Flom
---------------------------------------------------
Character Arts, LLC
37 Pond Road, Bldg. 2
Wilton, CT 06897

So, Cedric it is, of course he is from the reindeer police and Santa needs all the help he can get, dishing out all those valuable gifts...hey ho.

The Titus Adventure with Cedric & Santa will be out soon in a Christmas Collection of stories for children. Look out for it.

Carol x

Having a bad story day

I’ve just finished a little children’s story about a bird called Titus who has an adventure with Santa and Rudolph. Fine you might say so, what’s the problem. Well, you see this little story is to go into a Christmas anthology of children’s stories a friend of mine is creating.

Anyway, to make sure everything was legal she checked out copyright stuff on Christmas...well it it’s a popular theme after all. Everything was going swimmingly until she got to ‘Rudolph’ it seems he is copyrighted. All the other reindeers are fair game but not Rudolph and he features as one of the main character in my little story Grrrrrrrr.

So I dashed off an e-mail to the license holders and now I’m crossing my fingers and anything else I can think of. If they say no or it costs a fortune, I will change his name to Cedric the reindeer policeman and give him a blue nose. So wish me luck folks. I’ll keep you posted.

Carol x

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Carol x