How far does using the same words from copy righted works go?
In my story, I have this world that is referred to as the chaos realm. A quick Google search gives me results for World of Warcraft (although only in the form of a mod apparently), War Hammer and Mortal Kombat.
I like the name though, and it fits with the world I created. Could I still call my world chaos realm? Or is there some legal slippery slope here?
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You can't copyright a name, you can only trademark it (which is expensive).
Chaos Realm seems pretty generic to me. After all, you did come up with it independently.
Even being legal, I wouldn't using a place name that was really well known and specific to one work, unless you were setting it in that universe. Don't use the name Hogwarts or Winterfell, for example.
So unless Chaos Realm is very well known in the circles I don't travel, it seems safe to do so ethically. Legally you're almost certainly in the clear (I am not a lawyer!).
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