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Naming Filter Oddity
amosov78
Posts: 98 Arc User
Is it me or is the naming filter in CO really weird? I tried using the name Hyperion but it tells me the name has restricted characters in it. At first I thought it might be because the IP already has someone with that name (not that he'll ever appear in-game) however I also have a character named Bloodstone, who quite clearly does appear in-game already.
It can't even be because Marvel has a character named that, as I've seen plenty of Thor's and Hercules' running about.
It can't even be because Marvel has a character named that, as I've seen plenty of Thor's and Hercules' running about.
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LIFETIMER since 23/01/2012 || Join Date: Sep 2009
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Hercules is an ancient greek myth that cant get copyrighted.
Thor is actually still worshiped in some areas he is classed as a deity so I guess they cant copy right that...
...but wait Cryptic has messed up type in the name Raiden and it doesnt allow it ..now I know WB cant copy right Raiden due to it being a Shinto god and all that ( i am Shinto so shut up -.- ) So ya its all crazy messed up like you said
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"Hyperion", on the other hand, was originally a Titan, but one so obscure (since his initial sun duties were assumed by Helios) as to generally be mentioned only in lists of Titans. (It's also one of the moons of Saturn, since those are all named for Titans, aside, amusingly, from Titan itself.) Thus, since it hadn't been used in fiction in centuries, Marvel was able to trademark the name for their Superman expy in the various Squadron Supreme series. And every so often, they publish some new version so they can show they're "vigorously defending" their trademark. (Besides, I for one really liked Straczynski's take on the concept in Supreme Power.) Now, while a case could be made that just using the name is not a violation of their trademark, rather than spending hours in court Cryptic has chosen to simply lock out the name.
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Flawed logic? In my cryptic??
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Marvel does have a character named Hyperion which presumably they still own the rights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(comics)
It's very likely whoever programmed the filter wasn't aware of the mythological Titan and uncle to Zeus.
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The link in my opening post clearly shows that Hyperion is also a Greek deity, and cannot be copyrighted. Now, as I said before there's a British hero in the Champions IP itself who goes by that name. However that's unlikely to be the reason for the name being restricted, otherwise Albion would also be restricted but currently isn't.
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But they aren't blocking Thor, and almost 90% of those I've seen in-game look like Marvel's version. So the issue still is? They're not blocking names like "Lady Briton" despite that character existing already, most recently Psylocke calling herself it in the comics.
*Most of this group are convinced that since Marvel settled out of court when they sued Cryptic during the City of Heroes case, that meant somehow that Cryptic "won" and Marvel would never sue them again. In fact, they settled because the characters being presented as evidence were all made by Marvel employees, which rather weakened their case. In exchange for Marvel dropping the case, Cryptic agreed to police their player base and remove any trademark violations. Today, Marvel is owned by Disney - a company that rather famously sued a day-care in Florida last year for painting Disney characters on a wall without a license. I don't think they'd give up so easily now, especially since so many people seem to be so happy to make their case for them...
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Kall is blocked. (Or used to be)
Kall=Kal-L
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God is also restricted; though oddly God Almighty isn't.
Oh deary me. As long as Bruce Almighty is restricted we should be fine.
Seriously? That's your explanation? Thor and Hercules? Seriously? Somebody better tell the Norse and Romans that they're violating Marvel's trademarks! Has it occurred to you that those names aren't protected because any law suit brought for IP infringement by Marvel regarding names which were already being used in a superhero like context THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO has a snowball's chance in hell of even being heard by a court?
Names are covered by patent law. If a name is prior art, it cannot be protected by trademark. The only things about Hercules and Thor that are trademarked are the very specific changes done to their respective mythologies and to the artistic idea behind the character's appearance. That is to say that the name Thor is fine and dandy to use. The costume of Marvel's Thor combined with the name Thor, however is not.
You can't copyright a freaking name. How many times do I have to explain this to you people? Names cannot be copyrighted. Here, look... http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html See this? Read it.
Here, I'll quote the official Copyright Office FAQ for you in case you don't want to click the link.
Do you see now?
I am not a lawyer, none of what I have said is legal advice. I am however in the business of video game development. As such, it behooves me to know what the law says on things so I can avoid getting my butt sued and make sure that my own stuff is able to be protected.
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LIFETIMER since 23/01/2012 || Join Date: Sep 2009
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Obscure names like the Hyperion are easier to trademark due to the fact that trademark is based on public perception and most books of Greek Mythology only name the Titan Chronos.
The particular appearance of Marvel's Thor and Hercules is another story however and is capable of being trademarked. You'll notice that both the backstory and appearance of Marvel's and DC's Hercules are vastly different, (Marvel's is the one from Greek Mythology, DC's is a Lord of Magic with incredible strength using the name Hercules.)
So to answer your question, well known names from various mythologies, not trademarkable, obscure names from various mythologies, trademarkable.
I actually did know that, however as I said Hyperion is a known Greek Deity, and I at least thought a well known one. I assumed, as has been said before when Cryptic in City of Heroes restricted names, that this was because they were associated with an existing character, usually one in either DC or Marvel comics. I did not mention that they were copyrighted, just that they were trying to avoid potential legal wrangling as has happened before.
When i was making my nemesis game told me that name Haywire has restricted characters in it. I named him Lord Haywire and everything was fine.
Maybe Lord Hyperion (or something similar) isn't a restricted name?
I hope that same goes for Aurora, as I want to make a PA superhero with such name, inspired by this ship.
I already tried putting words and numbers both in front and behind it. Unless they're actually joined up as all one word then it is still a no go.
Highlighted the important bit, though the entire post is relevant. It's a complex issue, sure, but it's not that complex.
Also, the bolded portion has pretty well been pointed out in this thread once already.
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BLAME YOU!
(even though you are innocent of being name blocked for trying to use a freaking mythological name)
PS: And nobody use the word "copyright" or formerly know as Metallurgist will rain down on you with bloody vengeance.
Everyone has pet peeves. Even amongst the flailing and snarling (WARNING: That may be a dramatization, because we really needed more drama in this thread), there's a good point and some handy info in Metallurgist's comment.
To paraphrase the great Morbo: COPYRIGHT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY, GOOD NIGHT.
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Hehehe, I know. I was all in good humor. I actually started using the word "trademark" every time this issue came up many moons ago after reading a lengthy reply from still known back then as Metallurgist on the distinction between the words and their proper usage in this type of matters. And thank her for the clarification and usefull information
Then he'd either be an Alert boss if he is a villain or he'd dole out event oriented missions if he's a hero.
So i had to go with "Whyte Dwarf"
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Also, the character bio has problems with cusswords, you can't write "he regenerates when he's hit by ennemies", and that's terrible
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Honestly I'm kind of glad it happened. (The Blazing) "Red Ribbon" turned out to be a far more entertaining character.
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Heh heh, I saw what you did there. And I approve this message. :biggrin:
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Makes me wonder if Marvel has actually just copyrighted each word of the Duden, or simply
just every letter in the alpabet :rolleyes:
Yup, that was the joke...
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Did we get any torches or pitchforks during the PWE takeover?
(also it's australopithecine)
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That's funny, I tried using that same exact name as well and was pretty disappointed when I couldn't (for some reason, that name was stuck in my head forever so I wanted to use it as a character).
So, I ended up naming the character "Nova."
...
Yep.
Commonly used words/names (Thor and Zeus, for example, are used with great frequency in a broad array of texts and fields; Nova is an astronomical term and used HEAVILY in the field; Etcetra) are harder to trademark the words themselves, and have a harder time proving that any one particular incident is related to that specific trademark.
Uncommonly used ones are a bit easier to trademark, and thus easier to defend in court (as it doesn't show up near often enough, and thus the chance that it's referring to some other thing is significantly lessened - or that's the case that can be made).
Rarely used ones are, likewise, even easier then that to trademark, and usually won't make it to a court in the first place.
We can continue to argue semantics about it, but that's the gist.
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Given that trademarks are based on being...
...and the fact that "angel" is a commonly used word in the english language, and there are many characters in the genre and related genres that are angels, related to angels or use "angel" somehow in their name... Yeah, I would say people having an issue with "angel" being a restricted word would make perfect sense.
To me there's nothing distinctive about that word, and I don't normally think of the X-Men character when the word comes up, or even when thinking of X-Men characters in general. I have to specifically be reminded that he exists in order to go.. "Oh, yeah... there IS an X-Men character named that. There's also one in the Buffy universe...(which Im more likely to remember and actually own the entire series in DVD
Not saying there isn't oddities in the naming filter, but some of the ones that are in there have some pretty good logic behind it.
EDIT: Though we also have to remember that most of the names in the 'denial' filter are also likely taken in a Superhero context - how many characters in a superhero context do you know named 'Angel'? I can count 6 and at least 4-5 of those are Marvel and that's just off the top of my head.
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I don't think the name filter really has anything to do with frequency of word usage.
Sure, people say "nova" a lot, but I hear the word "tomorrow" a lot more.