Need help with a copyright problem... - Writers Forum

Saltydoghayden · 02-22-2005, 08:21 PM

This might be a problem...actually i dont know.

But I've written a novel based on a world where Great Spirits or deities control the elements, ie. water, wind, earth,etc.

anyway, Theres a video game i played that has similiar stories to the ones I have always written...so would people think I'm copying those games?
I honestly havent copied those games...but they may have inspired me somewhat

also...my title is kind of similar...theres a bunch of games called Tales of destiny, tales of Symphonia and so on...they are all the tales of something.

My set of books is going to be called the Tales of Symfoney or something along those lines...would that be considered copying?

mammamaia · 02-23-2005, 07:25 AM

hayden...
your title is uncomfortably close to the one game title, so i'd advise you to put more distance between them to be on the safe side...

as for the content, games are copyrighted, so whether you consciously copied one or not, if your book could be assumed by readers to follow a protected game's storyline or contain recognizable characters from such games, you may indeed find yourself in trouble... there's a lot of money in those things and their owners guard their rights jealously and zealously... plus, they can afford expensive attorneys and i'm guessing you can't...

that said, there's no such thing as an 'original' story line any more... hasn't been, since the only three original stories were painted on their authors' cave walls... everything written since, is just creative plagiarism...

but to cover your tuchus, i'd strongly urge you to make sure your plots and characters are different enough from those games that no one will see your inspiration more than your variation... catch my drift?

love and hugs, maia

Saltydoghayden · 02-23-2005, 07:15 PM

ok thanks for the info...but what do you mean by

" inspiration more than your variation... catch my drift?"

could you explain that for me please?

thanks.

mammamaia · 02-24-2005, 08:10 AM

what i meant was that it shouldn't be obvious what inspired you to write this... your originality ['variation'] should be what shows... if readers can recognize the games you got the ideas from, you'll be in trouble with the games' copyright holders...

is that clear enough?... if not, let me know and i'll try again... hugs, m

valeca · 02-24-2005, 09:04 AM

As far as I've been given to understand, a title is fairly safe from copyright infrigement, unless it's exactly the same.
Your editor will tell you to change it if they think it's too close to something else. Use what you want to begin with.

It was explained to me this way: The likelihood of more than one person stringing together a title of less than 5 words, in the exact same order, is very high.
And 'The Tales of...' is a pretty common one. I'd hazard a guess and say you're safe using that.

Now using an individual's name or a company name in your title (sans permission) will land you in litigation hell pretty fast

cyberspecter · 02-24-2005, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by valeca

As far as I've been given to understand, a title is fairly safe from copyright infrigement, unless it's exactly the same.
Your editor will tell you to change it if they think it's too close to something else. Use what you want to begin with.

It was explained to me this way: The likelihood of more than one person stringing together a title of less than 5 words, in the exact same order, is very high.
And 'The Tales of...' is a pretty common one. I'd hazard a guess and say you're safe using that.

Now using an individual's name or a company name in your title (sans permission) will land you in litigation hell pretty fast

Actually Titles are not covered by U.S. copyright laws. You can have the same titles. It's content that matters. This is taken from a page from the U. S. Copyright page. ( http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wnp )

Quote:

Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents

valeca · 02-24-2005, 12:00 PM

Yeah, that's what I was refering to when I gave that example, but as I'm not in the US and I don't know if the original poster is either, I didn't want to post laws that might not pertain to them

If an editor thinks it will sell better/worse because of a similar title, I'm thinking they'd make that call and suggest a change accordingly.

I'd still say that using something like, The Day Ronald McDonald Drank Stale Tea In the Drive Thu would land you in hot water.

Thanx Cyberspecter.

mammamaia · 02-25-2005, 08:25 AM

what you're overlooking is 'trademark' protection... games often have peripheral marketing aspects and so titles and character names may be trademarked, even if not eligible for copyright... in which case, you can't use the same title...

to be safe, rather than sorry, check the catalog at the library of congress for both copyrighted and trademarked titles/names/whatevers...

law suits have been launched [and won] over names/titles that are only similar, so a minor change may not be enough to keep you out of court...

if you think none of this will matter until/unless you sell your novel to a publisher, that may not be true... by sending out your work, you are making it 'public' and if seen by someone wanting to sue, you might still find yourself in a bind...

to avoid any potential hassle, your wisest course is to be original instead of derivative... change all your names and situations enough so no one will be able to think you modelled them after the game...

Saltydoghayden · 02-25-2005, 08:02 PM

I think I know what you mean...but i didnt actually model my characters and story based on anything else.

Nimbus1944 · 02-28-2005, 06:36 AM

Understood; there is such a thing as independent invention, when two people get the same idea without consultation -- but copyrights and trademarks rule in the end.

Create an original name for an ordinary character or town. Now Google it. What happens most of the time? Somebody else thought of it, too! For example, you concocted the word Symfoney. Guess what --Google already finds 17 references to that exact unusual spelling. With 5 billion people in the world, it happens.

JK Rowling's Hogwarts (circa 1997) and Michael Palin's Graybridge (circa 1975) are both British boarding schools. Both have school songs with no tune. Both happen to use the names Potter and Botts. These are insignificant coincidences. School stories are common in Britain, and the plots are as different as night and day. No lawsuit.

The answer, as suggested above: keep modifying your names and plot to make it very different.

Saltydoghayden · 03-01-2005, 05:06 PM

well my names are really different i suppose and then some are not...I mean i use the name Claire...i guess noones gonna wanna litigate me for that.

so i shouldnt get in trouble if I use a name like Symfoney then?

thanks