Having the same ideas?

[TheokinsJ]

I'm interested to see to what extent copyright can be used in books, in terms with naming places and people ect. I drew up my fantasy map a year ago, and have found one similarity to another book. The other day I was looking at a map of Westeros from Game of Thrones/A song of ice and fire, and discovered that on the map there was an area called 'the Westerlands'. On my map I have an identically named area, and there was no way I could have been even slightly influenced by the books or tv show because I had made my map long before I started reading them. Does this infringe copyright? I mean, I am really tempted to change it, now that I see it is similar to another author's work, but I'm wondering if I kept the name, would it be copyright infringement? What are your thoughts on copyright infringement for names of places? Is it alright if I leave the name, seeing as I thought it up with my own imagination, and coincidentally, so has another author?

 

[Penpilot]

I don't know if it's infringement--I suspect it might not be--but regardless. I'd change it. If it's a major part of your story, with the success of GOT, people are probably going to notice that the name is the same and make assumptions, right or wrong, that it's stolen. So why bother with that hassle. If it's only a minor part of the story, still change it... because well... it's just something minor.

 

[Nameback]

I agree with Penpilot. From my understanding, there's really almost no possibility that "the Westerlands" could be considered a term unique to GRRM and ASOIAF. It's a variation on a common and long-standing designation.

However, as Penpilot says, you should change the name anyway, because now people associate it with ASOIAF. Lots of fantasy writers do stuff like this -- Steven Erikson has orcs in his books, but they're called Jaghut to differentiate them from Tolkein and Dungeons and Dragons. Of course, a name alone is not enough--the content also has to be differentiated as well. But no reason to use a name that people will associate with another work.

 

[wordwalker]

Strictly speaking, names and other short phrases are never copyrighted. But they can be trademarked, and sometimes someone bothers to.

 

[ThinkerX]

For what its worth, I've seen 'Westerlands' as a place name on maps in probably five or six fantasy books, new and old. Or at least very close variations of the term.