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Can I use the characters/names of people in old Redwall club for stories? ?
Back in 1997-2000, I used to belong to a Redwall club called "T.O.M" (which stood for The Troops of Mossflower.)
I really miss the club and some of the friends I had there. It wasn't my club, but the owner's name was Bladeta (his character's name.) He closed it down in 2000 because he didn't have time for it anymore.
I have done fan fiction based on the club which I don't intend to publish. But this made me wonder...
Even though Bladeta created the club, he didn't copyright anything. This was just a typical 90's club. There wasn't any merchandise or anything, just missions to earn points to raise in the ranks. (The "missions" were basically writing prompts where you wrote how you rescued some one in need, things like that.)
You also earned points by submitting Redwall recipes, fan art and other things.
Since T.O.M doesn't exist on the internet anymore, and since Bladeta didn't copyright anything, would I be allowed to use the club's name and characters in a book of my own?
I know I couldn't use "Redwall" or "Mossflower"...those are copyrighted. I would have to have the "M" to stand for something else.
But would I be allowed to use everything else?
Curtissports2- I did mention that Bladeta didn't copyright or trademarked anything.
Curtissports2-You apparently didn't even read the whole question.
?- You apparently didn't read the question either. I never said I wrote Redwall fan fiction. Just T.O.M. fan fiction (which never mentions Redwall or characters from the stories.) The fan fiction mentions Mossflower (that's what the "M" in T.O.M. stands for) but I KNOW (as I stated in my question) that I couldn't use the name Mossflower.
The only thing "stolen" would be "T.O.M." and the character of Bladeta. Neither exists on the 'net now b/c he took it all down when he lost interest in them.
3 Answers
- ?Lv 72 weeks ago
You can't write Redwall fanfiction and sell it. Redwall is trademarked and copyrighted, so give up any idea you have of being able to sell anything that comes close to resembling it. At most, you can sell a cheap knockoff which never mentions any character or idea. I'll point out the Tolkien estate won a suit which forbade the use of Ent and Hobbit.
As for ripping off names from other fanfiction writers. Go right ahead, since you won't actually be using anything that is trademarked or copyrighted, this is no different than writing a story about a kid named Holden who poops his pants at Walmart.
- curtisports2Lv 72 weeks ago
For entertainment purposes only, not for profit. And if the owner of the trademarked or copyrighted intellectual property sends you a cease and desist letter demanding you remove the material, obey it. If you post it on a website, the website may take it down.
- Anonymous3 weeks ago
Do you know, I think it will be fine. Did you know that the whole "50 Shades of Grey" series started out as a fanfic based on Twilight? The author changed the names of the characters and a few details here and there when she published it. I believe that you can still find the original fanfic here on there on the internet. Anyway, quite a few novels have had their start based on a writing prompt at a group writers' workshop.
