It's for a story I'm writing set in modern times.
I already asked this but got conflicting answers.
Trademark law is different from copyright laws. I'm specifically asking about copyright laws and fictional stories.
My story is not set in the DC universe. It's actually on an air force base.
Mutt
Favorite Answer
No, no one owns any rights to the name "Hercules". However, you need to be careful about any similarities in story lines between what you create and what might have been created in modern times. Just because no owns the right to the name Hercules does not mean that stories they created about Hercules have no copyright. And this means that any original works you create for your character Hercules would be owned by you.
Nuff Sed
The name is not copyrighted, because copyright doesn't cover names. The character from mythology is not copyrighted. Later versions may well be copyrighted to the extent they added creative and original elements. The name is also a trademark on many types of goods or services, so you would need to check for its existing usage within your field prior to releasing Hercules brand goods or services (e.g., computer games, action figures, comic books, TV shows, etc).
joensfca
You can use him,
see
That's because mighty Thor belongs to the most powerful superhero team of them all — the league of public domain superheroes. There are tons and tons of characters that the major comic book publishers have featured, who happen to be in the public domain. Including figures from mythology, characters from literature, and cases where the publisher just forgot to file the paperwork.
Here's our complete list of superheroes (and some supervillains) who belong to you.
see link
The Greek Pantheon.
For one thing, there's Hercules, who turns up a lot. And at one point recently, Zeus was playing a starring role in DC's Wonder Woman comic and Marvel's Incredible Hercules comic. In one, he was putting Achilles in charge of the Amazons, in the other he was being turned into a bratty but cute kid. But besides Zeus and Hercules, tons of other Greek gods and demigods have turned up in Marvel and DC comics over the years. Ares is a Wonder Woman villain and a sometime member of the Mighty Avengers. (Because he's a Hulk and a Thor.)
http://io9.gizmodo.com/5796725/thor-isnt-the-only-public-domain-superhero
Steven J Pemberton
The character from Greek and Roman mythology is not copyrighted. (He predates any concept of copyright by a couple of millennia.) Recent interpretations of Hercules might be copyrighted, but only insofar as they're different from the mythological character.
Gary B
Hercules is a fictional,mythological characters from the time of Ancient Greece. His NAME can be used freely, but be careful that you don't copy IDEAS and sitations from books or movies or TV shows.