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Q&A Can I use names of characters and groups that other authors/creators have used already?

Within reason, if the name itself is not already instantly recognizable (Bart Simpson, Lara Croft, James Bond), you can probably get away with using it. "Trent Steele" may be generic enough. Simi...

posted 8y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:36Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/21945
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:14:45Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/21945
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T05:14:45Z (about 5 years ago)
Within reason, if the name itself is not already instantly recognizable (Bart Simpson, Lara Croft, James Bond), you can probably get away with using it. "Trent Steele" may be generic enough.

Similarly, there are only so many variants and arrangements of _organization_ and _darkness,_ so whatever you come up with has probably been used or alluded to elsewhere.

In order to avoid charges of plaigiarism, make sure your Mr. Steele and Brotherhood are different enough from the ones you Google that readers would not easily confuse them. You might do this by changing your character's gender and/or race, and making your organization's name less mustache-twirlingly evil.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-05-05T12:31:44Z (over 8 years ago)
Original score: 4