Now I'm guessing a lot of you are thinking this is going to be about C&C and GW...but no haha
I've been developing a series of books that has no relation whatsoever to 40K, but I've realised an awkward mirroring. I have a character named Solitaire who is in command of a legion of soldiers called the Harlequins. Neither are the same as the Eldar counterparts in 40K, but am I in danger of copyright infringement? Might be a stupid question, but doesn't hurt to be safe...
well, the harlequin is not anything GW invented, in fact, very few GW products aren't direct "translations" of other products or historical characters.
The fact you have a Solitaire leading a group of Harlequin's would obviously seem to be influenced by the WH40k universe, but I wouldn't think it's an actual infringement of their IP. You could always take the George Lucas route and just admit you're using "book X/film Y" as your inspiration, in his case, the John Carter books by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Akira Kurosawa's - The Hidden Fortress.
No it's fine. When it comes to writing fiction you have to be very similar before you start getting copyright issues. Look at how close GW is to their inspiration.
Blizzard got away with some pretty interesting "copywrite infringement". Hehehehe.
It is Blizzard - give their lawyers enough money and they tell you that the world is flat - and get right...Originally Posted by Kevlar
So long as there's nothing Eldarish about your Solitaire and Harlequins, I think you'll be fine.
I don't know what country you live in, but I can give you some general advice if on the off-chance you live in America.
The thing you're going to have to come to grips with as a writer, or just a citizen of this country is that conceivably, anybody can sue you for anything.
Is it likely to happen? Well, you say that other than the fact you have a character named Solitaire leading a group called Harlequins, 40k has no other influence, so probably not, but could it happen? Sure.
Not trying to scare you or seem overdramatic, but as somebody who has had to deal with big corporate IP lawyers over something silly like a defunct garage band name, let me assure you that any time you create something in this country, there's a chance somebody can come along and try to sue you for it. Again, it's unlikely to happen, but it's always in that realm of possibility- there's no automatic button that gets you out of lawsuit by saying it's an homage or an influence or whatever.
Of course, even if it does happen, you have the chance to vindicate yourself in court, obviously. And yes, if the judge rules in your favor, there's a good chance that the plaintiff would have to pay you damages or at least reimburse your costs for retaining an attorney, but just get it in your head now there's always a chance you might wind up having to do just that.
So to answer your original question- is this copyright infringement? Depends on what the court says, if it comes to that.
You can be 100% sure that you won't be sued for using those names in a different context.
It could potentially be Trademark infringement. If you are in the US, the USPTO's website will allow you to do a basic trademark search. Trademarks are done by category, so if GW has trademarked Solitaire for literary type use, you might have a problem.
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