THE manufacturers of Red Bull, the smelly energy drink which turns young people even more hyper than normal, is making an extraordinary claim for sole rights on the word red.

The company (turnover some £4bn a year) has told a small brewery in Norwich it cannot use the name Redwell because it is too similar to Red Bull. It starts with red and ends with two Ls. Redwell is also the name of the street in Norwich where the brewery has a pub.

Under pressure from the Red Bull ominously named "brand enforcement department" and lacking funds to sustain litigation, the Redwell will likely have to change its name.

This is part of the increasing trend towards censorship via copyright which endangers free speech. Like, today I wanted to write about former SNP leader Gordon Wilson's bizarre intervention in the independence referendum debate. He says the Yes campaign is too boring and "should strike at the southern cancer". This reference to people as cancerous is reminiscent of the SNP way back in the last century when tartan extremism and hatred of the English was par for the course.

So I might have referred to Gordon Wilson as a tube. But that may have upset YouTube or indeed the London Underground. At the very least Gordon is a mixer, apologies to the well-known brand of gin. You night go as far as saying Gordon is a moron but I believe that phrase is copyright of singer Jilted John (we're not going anywhere near Kirkcaldy on this one).

We should be grateful that the clothing store State of Independence has not intervened to say it has copyright on the i-word and an alternative should be used in the referendum question. Conversely, the Yes campaign could argue that Scotland has been seeking independence since 1707 and the clothing company should change its name to State of Devo Max.

Another topic I had to ditch was the furore over Jeremy Paxman's beard. Inevitably I would have had to use the Newsnight presenter's nickname, risking a court action from a well-known manufacturer of stuffing.

Glasgow bar and restaurant magnate Stefan King once famously intervened to stop a pub being called Bloody Mary's because he had copyright on the phrase. The bar is now popular as Booly Mardy's.

Here's hoping Stefan King takes action against Prince Charles or William should either accede to the throne and try to use his surname in their title.