can they copyright it if I refer to the character as Lich King in the book itself? Even if his description/origin have nothing to do with Blizzard's creation?

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“I don't write a book so that it will be the final word; I write a book so that other books are possible, not necessarily written by me.” — Michel Foucault

When you directly reference something else that is of the same name is where it can get sketchy.

I don't know if I fully understand your question. Can they come at you with copyright if you directly call your character Lich King even though he is in no way related to Blizzard's?

yes

If it is a completely different character with no relation or reference whatsoever to Blizzard, they have no copyright case.

Because you cannot copyright an idea or a name.

They can copyright their specific character, so you could not write and commercialize THEIR Lich King -- his definitions, descriptions, story, lore, etc.

But say, I wrote a story and created a villain called the Witch King. As long as my Witch King is created of my own universe and ideas and is NOT a replica of the Lord of the Rings Witch King, they may have the same name, but it is no copyright infringement.

that's the case I was talking about, yes

If you're nervous about just the name, then you could change it. But in general, there's no... claim. A similar thing can be said with using names of nonfictional people.

If you write a character named Stephen King, the name itself is not a copyright or trademark infringement if your Stephen King is not trying to be a mirror image of the real Stephen King. Usually the only way you can get away with it in THIS case is by writing satire as satire allows fair use.

my Lich King has no magic in his universe and he is a physical being vs. just a soul within a chunk of ice

so there's nothing in common, really

If it's not the same character, name is free to use. \*shrugs\*

You just have to keep in mind 1) the originalness of the design, 2) people may wonder if your character was inspired by the more famous one (which doesn't really matter), and 3) search results rankings will be lower if there is a more famous version that comes up when you write Lich King

just think of how many songs there are called Monster lmao

right, it's a popular concept

And I'd say you're more than fine too since Lich is a thing on its own. There becomes a little more uh, copyright issue if someone created a mythical creature/lore/name that didn't or can't exist outside of where it was written

Like Skeleton King is p much just as generic of an 'idea' as Lich King (both more or less being definitions for a character type). However, Slenderman is very, very specific. Albeit, you could still refer to someone as Slenderman in a story if he is nothing like the creepypasta slendy lmao

right, but would the creepypasta writer that created slenderman really try to copyright strike people who name their characters the same?

it's not that well known of a character

ENDERMAN. that's what I wanted lmao. Enderman is a more specific creature that doesn't work outside of Minecraft because the Ender --> Enderman is so specific

1) I don't think there is an official copyright holder on Slenderman because of how he was created. In the same way the SCPs don't really have a copyright because of the whole... internet collective thing...

But you can't copyright a name. So even if someone wrote a character named Slenderman, if their Slenderman was not obviously some same version, there would be no copyright infringement had.

Right, I understand

should I specify the difference between the lich kings in an author's note before the main text in case blizzard/the thrash metal band try to claim it as infringement?

If your book is completely unrelated to either of those, I don't think an author's note will do anything but draw attention where authors wouldn't have had it in the first place

Ok, that makes sense

And I say all this after my debut novel was inspired by a board game so there was a lot of research in where copyright and trademark lines could cross.

You can always still choose to change it if you feel uncomfortable closer to publication, but... if your story has nothing to do with it... then...

Think of these two scenarios: You can copyright specific content or character design, but not a premise or an arch type (the wise wizard, the reluctant hero, the cocky rebel, the bad cook).

You can also avoid copyright by directly ripping something off, but changing the names so it no longer relates to the source. This is a practice called scrubbing off the serials and it's what stuff like E.L. James 50 Shades of Gray did -- starting with copyrighted materials (Twilight Fanfic), but then removing anything that identified it as such to publish it commercially without infringement.

oh I see

If I think of a better name, I will change it but Lich King just fits so well

@Lich King Lich sovereign / Lich monarch / Lich prince / Lich crown / Lich overlord

Those are some alternative ones.... Aside from copyright, u dont want ur readers to associate ur work with another imo

More or less why I mentioned the bigger issue is search results. lmao

I have a friend who started an original comic called Dirty Laundry... so many people showed up to the comic thinking it was related to some fairly popular fanfiction by the same name, but he'd never heard of it.

Oof

That's tough