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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48713
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48713
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

> if I were to write fiction with the same characters, same names,

Same as the mythology, or the same as recent authors? If it is an ancient text, or even a text out of copyright (like Shakespeare), then you can copy characters and names, you are free to take the characters from Hamlet and write an adventure with them as children, perhaps introducing new side-characters for playmates and villains, etc.

If another author already did that, you can copy the idea of Shakespeare's characters as children, but not the parts they invented.

Copyright doesn't cover **_general ideas_** , or plots. In the US it doesn't cover anything [first published in 1923 or earlier.](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/first-time-20-years-copyrighted-works-enter-public-domain-180971016/)

Here is a detailed explanation about what is covered, and for how long, in [Findlaw.](https://corporate.findlaw.com/intellectual-property/copyright-law.html)

Currently the copyright term for individuals is life of the author plus 70 years. It is different for "works made for hire" (by employees or contractors, basically an exception for businesses, under the notion that there may be no specific author, or the business is not going to die), there it is 95 years from the date of first public display, or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever comes first.

You don't have to worry about copying ancient works more than 200 years old, but you do need to be careful about are **translations** that may still be in copyright, of ancient works.

I also suggest clicking on your "copyright" tag to see other answers about this.

Original score: 4