Hey, no one said he couldn't do it. The question is does he want to take
the risk? The fact of the matter is that WOTC would (reasonably) challenge
the name and is that worth the trouble?
- Marc
At 07:40 PM 4/24/2001 -0700, you wrote:
>--- John Nephew <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Come on. "Lands" and "Realms" are synonyms. Given
> > that we're talking about
> > an FRPG setting, I'd say there is plenty of
> > possiblity for a reasonable
> > consumer to be confused by the name.
>
>I've seen computer products with very similar names
>that had no legal problems related to consumer
>confusion. First there was "WordStar" then
>"WordPerfect" then "Word" and then "Word Pro", all
>produced by different companies. That's just the ones
>I can remember at the moment and there was at least
>one Mac product with yet another similar name. I
>don't have a full list of every roleplaying game
>product ever produced but I'm willing to bet that
>there are a few things in there that are pretty
>similar. I'm sure there have been bunches of fantasy
>novels and place names with similar-sounding titles.
>
> > Suppose I do a space opera movie called "Stellar
> > Wars." Don't you think
> > Lucasfilm might be giving me a call?
>
>Actually, no. If your logo looked like the Star Wars
>logo or if you featured any of the same characters or
>settings then you'd have trouble. The words are way
>too commonplace for anybody to get their panties in a
>wad over them, IMO.
>
> > Even without considering the worry about infringing
> > someone's trademark, it
> > seems very derivative and as a gamer I'm turned off
> > by a name that seems
> > like a weak knock-off.
>
>It really didn't sound like that to me. I just got
>through watching an old version of Hamlet on VHS last
>week and was struck again by how many movie and book
>titles come from there. So many, in fact, that
>they've become such common phrases that people
>probably have no idea where they come from. In the
>fantasy genre [which includes the subset of FRPGs]
>words in titles and place names are frequently
>recycled, and "Forgotten" and "Realms" have been used
>a number of times. Not as often as guys named Blade
>but that's an extreme case. <VBG>
>
>Neal
>
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