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Are there rules against naming your characters after copyrighted characters?

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  • drgmstrdrgmstr Posts: 886 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    he may have already used his rename. or there is another one out there called .Cat.Dog. now. really.

    I actually saw them the other day running into Caprice. My first reaction: *facepalms* Now people are making clones/homages of Nickelodeon shows???

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  • drgmstrdrgmstr Posts: 886 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    gradii wrote: »
    Hey, see above, I did. (I think it was on there don't remember)

    It was, and never saw Ghostwing yet so couldn't of commented on it before reading this thread :biggrin:

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  • kojirohellfirekojirohellfire Posts: 2,075 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Also known as the Marvel Lawyers Created Their Own Clones in City of Heroes to Use as Evidence in Their Lawsuit Against Cryptic Studios Clause.

    Yeah, that pretty much destroyed Marvel's case rather than help it. Boneheaded move, that.
  • championshewolfchampionshewolf Posts: 4,375 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Yeah, that pretty much destroyed Marvel's case rather than help it. Boneheaded move, that.

    The result was a settlement out of court, the details we don't know. CoH got to stay online (If I recall one of the terms for the court case was the immediate termination of CoH and removal of it from the shelves) but obviously policing had to step up and we don't know how much in financial damages had to be paid from either side.
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  • gandalesgandales Posts: 340 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    The result was a settlement out of court, the details we don't know. CoH got to stay online (If I recall one of the terms for the court case was the immediate termination of CoH and removal of it from the shelves) but obviously policing had to step up and we don't know how much in financial damages had to be paid from either side.

    Similar to youtube situation in general.
    1) Prohibiting copyright infrigement
    2) Reasonable effort in catching the infractors
  • chimerafreekchimerafreek Posts: 406 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Kinda relevant, but I have to wonder, who owns the name "Ghost" that makes 'Ghost' an unusable name?




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  • championshewolfchampionshewolf Posts: 4,375 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Kinda relevant, but I have to wonder, who owns the name "Ghost" that makes 'Ghost' an unusable name?




    ....It couldn't be.... o3o

    Well Ghost is an Iron man foe.

    It's also the main female character of a Dark Horse comic line in the 90s.

    You also have the Gentleman Ghost which is a DC villain.
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  • spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Well Ghost is an Iron man foe.

    It's also the main female character of a Dark Horse comic line in the 90s.

    You also have the Gentleman Ghost which is a DC villain.

    ^ just look at all those people infringing on each other's copyright of the word ghost uwu
  • squidheadjaxsquidheadjax Posts: 51 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    jonsills wrote: »
    Strictly speaking, ToS won't even let you clone a character from your own IP, if you've trademarked it. Jack Black could play this game, but he'd still get in trouble for creating Wonderboy (and his Nemesis, Young Nasty Man, with all the same powers as Wonderboy!).

    Back in the Day, there was a Fire Blaster in CoX called Harry Dresden. After the name got generic'd, Jim Butcher passed along proof that he, the trademark holder, was the player, got the name changed back, and went back to accidentally burning buildings down, err, fighting supervillainy as a fire wizard from Chicago.

    I can't say I know this story to be true firsthand, but the people I know it from were Paragon studio insiders.
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  • jennymachxjennymachx Posts: 3,000 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    spinnytop wrote: »
    ^ just look at all those people infringing on each other's copyright of the word ghost uwu

    The word "ghost" isn't copyrighted / trademarked. Each character that uses the name is.
  • ealford1985ealford1985 Posts: 3,582 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    jennymachx wrote: »
    The word "ghost" isn't copyrighted / trademarked. Each character that uses the name is.

    I know on the public domain the character Captain America is available but it's not Steve Rogers, it's some guy from a tv show. But I would think technically you could use a name like Captain America as long as it's not the Captain America from marvel (cryptic won't let you anyways)
  • championshewolfchampionshewolf Posts: 4,375 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    I know on the public domain the character Captain America is available but it's not Steve Rogers, it's some guy from a tv show. But I would think technically you could use a name like Captain America as long as it's not the Captain America from marvel (cryptic won't let you anyways)

    Cryptic would rather be cautious and for good reason. Seriously, if anyone could name their character Captain America, you really think they are not trying to recreate the comic character in a comic book world? It was like a guy one night kept asking for the Therakiel dual swords a long time ago with a character named Cervantes. He tried to say he wasn't copying anything that it was his family name, I go up to him and he looks like a ghost pirate and read his bio ripped straight out of Soul Calibur.
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  • jennymachxjennymachx Posts: 3,000 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    I know on the public domain the character Captain America is available but it's not Steve Rogers, it's some guy from a tv show. But I would think technically you could use a name like Captain America as long as it's not the Captain America from marvel (cryptic won't let you anyways)

    Technically you could use a name that an actual copyrighted character (not the names that are actually copyrighted) uses as long as the character you're using the name for isn't identical in likeness.

    This game's costume customization makes it very easy to create a character that shares likeness to that of a copyrighted character. Giving players access to names of popular copyrighted characters just makes it all the more easier to make copyright clones. Dark Horse's Ghost as mentioned is brain-dead easy to recreate for example. Just some white skin tights, a hood and dual pistols is all it takes. Heck, there's even the corset piece available.
  • chaelkchaelk Posts: 7,732 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    yesterday we had someone arguing in zone, his character is in a Darkwing duck costume. Why is that a problem?
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  • eiledoneiledon Posts: 1,287 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    chaelk wrote: »
    yesterday we had someone arguing in zone, his character is in a Darkwing duck costume. Why is that a problem?

    is that rhetorical?

    if it is obviously a man dressed as a duck (hard to do but not impossible in game) then it could fall under homage or parody. If he IS a duck in that outfit then I think he may have crossed that wiggly line into clone world.
  • thelastsonofzodthelastsonofzod Posts: 658 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    By the way, I did a test the other day. You can still have the name 'Catdog' I think its just blocked on the OP's friends character because it was marked for copyright infringement.
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  • decorumfriendsdecorumfriends Posts: 2,802 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    drgmstr should never doubt any source available:

    I actually saw them the other day running into Caprice. My first reaction: *facepalms* Now people are making clones/homages of Nickelodeon shows???

    I had a Shelby Marx clone over in CoX. :tongue:
    'Dec out

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  • zedbrightlander1zedbrightlander1 Posts: 3,797 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    jediavatar wrote: »
    My friend named his character CatDog. He's at lev 38 wasn't going reach lev 40 today, and in game they changed his name to "Bad Name". He tried to rename it CatDog, but the game won't allow it.

    Is there a rule against naming his character after copy righted characters? What should he do, should he just delete his character and start over?

    If the hero is a male...

    Would Dog-Man-Cat work as a hero name? Would that cause any copyright conflicts?

    A third costume with a human face, and a well developed, unrelated to the cartoon, hero bio with bizarre gene-splicing gone wrong and/or some weird dimensional shift power that causes the dog-man-cat changes, might help.
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  • zedbrightlander1zedbrightlander1 Posts: 3,797 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    nepht wrote: »
    If he ever played CO , PWE would need to make an exception... the dude can kill a Yak 200 yards away with mind bullets.

    Tim Russ is the NPC Tuvok in STO, but I read a rumor, on YT I think, that he plays sometimes and the devs allow him to play under the name Tuvix, a name blocked to other players.

    Like I said, rumor.
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