In early 1993 MGM released a film starring Madonna entitled Body of Evidence, but it in no way relates to Cornwell's novel. Titles cannot be copyrighted, but a federal law (the Lanham Act) does prohibit use of a title in a way that could cause confusion of products. In an artful application of this law, Cornwell's lawyers procured from MGM the placement of a disclaimer on advertisements for the film stating that it was not based on Cornwell's novel. (For more on this topic, see the article by Esther B. Fein in the "Resources" list in the biography section on Cornwell.)