Can we use “Coming Soon” in movie posters? Is it copyrightable?

The term “Coming Soon” has been used in first looks of movies, teasers, trailers, first song releases and all the promotional content for almost all movies – this is our pop culture now! But can anyone claim copyrights over the phrase “Coming Soon”?

In a recent case HMD Global, manufacturers of Nokia and Rajan Aggarwal, Rajan Aggarwal proceeds with a copyright infringement claim against HMD Global by stating that he holds the copyright of "coming soon".

A work can be copyrighted not only when it's fixed and original but also the work should not be generic and must hold the quality of distinctness. HMD Global released a short clip with their authentic ringtone mentioning the phrase "coming soon". This is usually done to create an excitement among the audience. We often see the phrase "coming soon" for movies and series and similarly tech gadgets are advertised in the same manner to induce such curiosity. Delhi High Court has given a verdict by dismissing the copyright claim by stating that a vague, generic content cannot be copyrighted.

With this particular case in hand, we understand that an idea alone cannot be copyrighted but the way it has been expressed has the copyrightability. This difference in understanding the difference between the idea and expression comes under the doctrine of idea-expression dichotomy. This means that a generic term cannot be copyrighted because it is too vague and does not hold any creative distinctness.

Hence, “Coming Soon” being too generic can be used in all markets for promotional purposes and using “Coming Soon” won’t infringe copyrights of anyone!