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Using Superman or Diagon Alley in your story?
- Thread starter DaemonId
- Start date
Feo Takahari
Auror
Three words: Lawyer-Friendly Cameo. He probably can't be Superman, but you might get away with Stupendous Guy. As for Hogwarts, you'd probably have to ask a lawyer, but no one ever came down on the Animorphs series for jokes about Powerpuff Girls marathons and Batman's underwear.
Mythopoet
Auror
It is almost certainly NOT ok to use those actual names. You might be able to get away with something similar, but different.
Mentioning other fictional properties is fine, provided it's still fictional within your story - like in one episode of Doctor Who, the Doctor says he cried when he read book 7, which at the time the episode aired hadn't been published. That'd be fine, and is referred to as an homage. If your characters were to discuss Hogwarts as if it was a real place, though, that'd be some variety of infringement if you tried to sell it, or a variety of fanfiction if you didn't.
Parody is protected. Also, passing references to other fictional places and names is generally fiNE (i.e. doesn't violate rights). If a rights holder takes issue and sues you still have to pay to defend yourself.
CupofJoe
Myth Weaver
Isn't there a difference between referencing an other writers work and using their creations as elements within your own works?
for example [and fan-fic aside...] I can see a new "Harry Potter" story not written by JKR may be prolematic... but saying a place is "just like Diagon Ally" wouldn't be.
for example [and fan-fic aside...] I can see a new "Harry Potter" story not written by JKR may be prolematic... but saying a place is "just like Diagon Ally" wouldn't be.
Yes, a new Harry Potter story by someone other than Rowling would be a problem, and not just a copyright problem. Passing references to popular culture aren't infringements.
psychotick
Auror
Hi,
I haven't checked but Superman is almost certainly trademarked. Diagon Alley probably won't be. But you need to take a look see on the USPTO website.
Superman is certainly also a part of the cultural lexicon, his name having been used extensively in books and film and other popular culture. This means that because everyone is familiar with his name, and more or less knows what it represents, it has become relatively impossible from stopping people making freely with it. "Superman" has become a part of the common parlance or pop culture. So passing comments and occasional parodies as long as they are obviously intended to be parodies, are probably safe. Writing a new superman book would be something completely different.
To an extent this is simply part and parcel of success, and has happened elsewhere. For example a traditional vacuum cleaner brand is "Hoover". And as you probably know, the name took off, and it became a normal term to say you were hoovering the floor etc, even when the cleaner you were using was by another maker. (I suspect the company doesn't mind.) Because of this to have a casual mention of the term in a book is probably not an issue. But if at some point your mention of the name, could be directly linked to the brand and not to the common parlance term, then you have issues. And if you denigrated the brand, you'd have serious ones.
And there are exceptions to this. "Coke" for example, is common parlance but the legal beagles at the company have trade marked and protected the term since day one. Use the term at your peril.
So for example getting back to the guy in tights, I have written in one of my unfinished books, an off the cuff line about him. The scene is a high rise apartment that has been attacked from the outside by someone with huge strength. And a detective is asked for an opinion as to what happened. And he simply shrugs and comments that superman was having a bad day. On that level I'm comfortable with it as its obviously a simple pop culture reference.
Diagon Alley does not in my view reach the same level of popular culture iconic stature. Mostly it's only known to those who've read or watched the HP works. It has not become a pop culture term (yet) for any magical place. Which makes it harder for you to simply throw the term in and have it work as something of pop culture instead of HP. But if it hasn't been trademarked, you can potentially get away with it - until someone does trademark it. And you have a different problem. Depending on how it's used many readers familir with HP, will see the term and instantly start thinking plagerism and rip off.
Of course I should point out that I am not a lawyer, so do not assume that these are legal opinions. If you go ahead with this work and think of publishing, you need to run it by someone with a legal knowledge of the issues.
Cheers, Greg.
I haven't checked but Superman is almost certainly trademarked. Diagon Alley probably won't be. But you need to take a look see on the USPTO website.
Superman is certainly also a part of the cultural lexicon, his name having been used extensively in books and film and other popular culture. This means that because everyone is familiar with his name, and more or less knows what it represents, it has become relatively impossible from stopping people making freely with it. "Superman" has become a part of the common parlance or pop culture. So passing comments and occasional parodies as long as they are obviously intended to be parodies, are probably safe. Writing a new superman book would be something completely different.
To an extent this is simply part and parcel of success, and has happened elsewhere. For example a traditional vacuum cleaner brand is "Hoover". And as you probably know, the name took off, and it became a normal term to say you were hoovering the floor etc, even when the cleaner you were using was by another maker. (I suspect the company doesn't mind.) Because of this to have a casual mention of the term in a book is probably not an issue. But if at some point your mention of the name, could be directly linked to the brand and not to the common parlance term, then you have issues. And if you denigrated the brand, you'd have serious ones.
And there are exceptions to this. "Coke" for example, is common parlance but the legal beagles at the company have trade marked and protected the term since day one. Use the term at your peril.
So for example getting back to the guy in tights, I have written in one of my unfinished books, an off the cuff line about him. The scene is a high rise apartment that has been attacked from the outside by someone with huge strength. And a detective is asked for an opinion as to what happened. And he simply shrugs and comments that superman was having a bad day. On that level I'm comfortable with it as its obviously a simple pop culture reference.
Diagon Alley does not in my view reach the same level of popular culture iconic stature. Mostly it's only known to those who've read or watched the HP works. It has not become a pop culture term (yet) for any magical place. Which makes it harder for you to simply throw the term in and have it work as something of pop culture instead of HP. But if it hasn't been trademarked, you can potentially get away with it - until someone does trademark it. And you have a different problem. Depending on how it's used many readers familir with HP, will see the term and instantly start thinking plagerism and rip off.
Of course I should point out that I am not a lawyer, so do not assume that these are legal opinions. If you go ahead with this work and think of publishing, you need to run it by someone with a legal knowledge of the issues.
Cheers, Greg.
I think you could make the argue that it is a parody. But if you have a story based around an undead Superman, I think it is likely to attract the attention of DC Comics, and the question is whether you want to spend the money on a legal defense that would be necessary to argue that you are writing a parody and that you are protected from trademark and copyright infringement. And it certainly isn't a sure thing that you'd win, even if you want to spend the money litigating it.
SeverinR
Vala
These are TM issues rather then CR issues, right?
Superman would be TM long ago. It is hard to TM every name of stores or places in a book.
Unless TM, the names would be CR issues. Merely mentioning them would probably not awaken the sleeping lawyer giants.
But as SP said, it would be costly if they did take notice. But unless published, all it would be is a cease and desist request. If published the company would have decided if its worth the fight or not. (Speaking of course, of large scale publisher, if self published with low sales, still cease and desist, they could take you fro everything you got and not even pay for an hour of the lawyers fees with what they get from your sales.)
Early on I wrote a pre-story to a mage, his Mage school years, where telling the story he says:
"I guarantee it was no popular rich wizard luxury school where you could play sports and wonder the ancient halls safely, I worked my ass off." No danger for TM or CR, since I never said or infered Hogwarts, I wanted a reference to Potter without actually linking it, since my works are 1100-1500 era and Potter is modern. (Wasn't even thinking CR or TM at the time.)
Never finished it, was an interesting concept though.
Superman would be TM long ago. It is hard to TM every name of stores or places in a book.
Unless TM, the names would be CR issues. Merely mentioning them would probably not awaken the sleeping lawyer giants.
But as SP said, it would be costly if they did take notice. But unless published, all it would be is a cease and desist request. If published the company would have decided if its worth the fight or not. (Speaking of course, of large scale publisher, if self published with low sales, still cease and desist, they could take you fro everything you got and not even pay for an hour of the lawyers fees with what they get from your sales.)
Early on I wrote a pre-story to a mage, his Mage school years, where telling the story he says:
"I guarantee it was no popular rich wizard luxury school where you could play sports and wonder the ancient halls safely, I worked my ass off." No danger for TM or CR, since I never said or infered Hogwarts, I wanted a reference to Potter without actually linking it, since my works are 1100-1500 era and Potter is modern. (Wasn't even thinking CR or TM at the time.)
Never finished it, was an interesting concept though.
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