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I'm learning Korean through comics. So everytime I read a chapter, I always make an extensive vocabulary list containing an English translation for each Korean word in that chapter.

My question is: Can I sell those vocabulary lists?

Can I advertise it like this:

"Buy this Vocabulary List for the First Chapter of Who Made Me A Princess"?

And a page of this Vocabulary list would be something like this:

Meaning of words in the first chapter of Who Made Me A Princess

Please, be aware that the same word can have different meanings in another contexts. The definitions chosen for this Vocabulary List fit the context of the first chapter of Who Made Me A Princess.

  • 내 - my or mine (informal. Short form of ‘나의‘)
  • 넘저는 - man
    • 넘 - male
    • 저 - person
    • 는 - * (a Topic Marker. Please see the Grammar Section to understand its usage)
  • 눈앞의 - in front of
    • 눈 - eyes
    • 앞 - in front
    • 의 - of (a Possessive Particle like 's)

I'll be just listing words and their meanings. Not full sentences. And the words of all sentences will be arranged in a alphabetical order. Without an actual copy of the that chapter of that specific comic, it would be impossible to know what the chapter is about.

My customers would always need to adquire the chapter from the author in the original language to benefit from my Vocabulary List.

Wouldn't it be fine to sell those Vocabulary Lists this way?

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    Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer.
    – Community Bot
    Commented Feb 14 at 18:17
  • 2
    This is a very specific problem with a very specific question: Can I sell those vocabulary lists or not? I've even gave an example of how this Vocabulary List would look like. There's nothing to be edited.
    – A person
    Commented Feb 14 at 18:26
  • However, you do tell us that you want to do something and ask if that is legal - that is asking for specific legal advice. That however is not allowed on the stack.
    – Trish
    Commented Feb 14 at 20:34

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The same principles as for word frequency lists should apply here. The set of words in a copyrighted work is a fact, not itself a copyrightable work.

As long as you write your own definitions and you comply with the laws around nominative use of trademarks (i.e. make it clear enough that your product is not from the makers of Who Made Me a Princess), I can't see what your problem would be.

That isn't to say that the people who own the original work won't send you angry letters or send your hosting services DMCA requests or the local equivalent.

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