May I mention certain names in my story?
Good morning everyone,
Am I allowed to mention, presumably trademarked names, in a story?
It's about the names: Lara Croft (Tomb Raider, Square Enix) and Merida (Disney). I only mentioned both names once to describe my daughter.
Here is a section of my story:
Lara was an adventurous girl with bright curls like Merida from "Brave." But she was also distinguished by her extraordinary courage and determination. Her greatest dream was to become an explorer, just like Lara Croft.
(I believe this is not allowed, but I have not found anything about it on the internet.)
I've written another children's story and, like my other story, I'd like to print it and sell it if necessary. The first one worked out great. I didn't get rich, but I was happy that my story made so many children happy.
My daughter's name is Lara, so I wanted to dedicate this story to her. And yes, she looks like Merida, except for her hair color ^^
Your Sonic
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With regard to trade mark law, one would have to first examine for what protection classes this exists. In Lara Croft, this also includes, for example, the protective class 16 (books).
That doesn't mean you can't use the name at all. If the use takes place in an editorial work, such as a book, and the mention should not influence the ranking in databases or otherwise on the sales number, there is no trademark infringement (cf. BGH judgment of February 4, 2010 , Ref. I ZR 51/08). In this respect, the use you intend to use, as can be seen from the quote, does not involve any risk as long as you mention the persons and they are neither part of the story nor are so often mentioned that this could affect search results in WWW.
PS If you leave the whole thing yourself and no editor has a short hint: An Intense / Separator is typographically a symbol other than a Coating :
LG
This can cause trouble if the names are copyrighted.
You can use first names as you like.
Hello Sonic1976!
drawing a comparison as in your examples of figures from other works under the name of their names, my view is not a violation of copyright or trademark law.
LG
gufrastella
If the brand-protected name is already a marketing operation, and you are using it commercially, you might not use it. you would have to ask the respective owner of the brand.
So you can
Names like LARA or MERIDA free also use in stories and books you commercialize.
But you can't
Providing references to films or games because the fictional characters in these works are naturally subject to copyright. So, if you use a person Lara Croft in your book and this is also an adventurer, then that is a violation of copyright.
For example, if you use a person Lara Abercromby who is a young girl and participates in a scavenger hunt or likes to ride then that should be unproblematic.
Lara Croft, on the other hand, should be completely accepted as a name.
Merida as a name itself is also unproblematic (there is also a city of Mérida in Spain) only the connection as a chief potter of a Scottish clan should be problematic due to the reference to the film.
Apart from possible trademark infringements, you overestimate the degree of acquaintance of the aforementioned figures. It may be that today's generation of your target group can possibly start with it, but later generations will no longer.
Even if you refer to an exceptional cult actor, for example, today's youth is mostly completely over, because it simply does not know these people (more).
That could actually be a problem. Lara Croft could be a secured brand. The one who then has the rights to it could sue you, especially if you sell the story and make money with it.
Only the first names should go. Call them Lara Force eg
They're quotes. Look at the book Ready Player One, that's full of such references, etc., just keep writing your story and don't worry about it, I'd say.