Are fictional characters copyrighted?

[Johnmx]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

Are fictional characters copyrighted? Say I wanted to write a book about a DC Universe supervillian like the Joker or Riddler. Legally can I make them the main characters of my book? Can someone legally copyright a character. There has been no books ever written about these character so can I be the first?

Thanks for all the help inadvance!

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

Are fictional characters copyrighted? Say I wanted to write a book about a DC Universe supervillian like the Joker or Riddler. Legally can I make them the main characters of my book? Can someone legally copyright a character. There has been no books ever written about these character so can I be the first?

Thanks for all the help inadvance!

Sometimes fictional characters are copyright-protected, sometimes fictional characters are trademark-protected, sometimes fictional characters are both copyright and trademark protected - and sometimes fictional characters can be used as main characters in a new book.

The ones you mention are rights-protected.

 

[Johnmx]

What does it mean to be rights protected?

 

[FlyingRon]

What does it mean to be rights protected?

Protected by either copyright or trademark or both. What it means is that you run the risk of being sued, losing, and forced to pay damages if you do this without permission of the owner.

Marvel and DC are no stranger to litigation. They're constantly on both sides of lawsuits. They have more lawyers than you ever will.

 

[quincy]

What does it mean to be rights protected?

It means that someone legally owns rights in the work(s) and these rights legally protect the work(s) from being used by others without permission.

You cannot, for example, write a book using Harry Potter as your main character. The rights to the Harry Potter character are owned by another. To use Harry Potter without permission from the owner would be both copyright infringement and trademark infringement and you can be sued.

If you are interested in writing a book, I suggest you either come up with characters that are uniquely your own, or use characters from works that are already in the public domain, or get a license from the owner of the rights to a character that is not in the public domain - and then consult with an attorney in your area familiar with intellectual property laws and publishing laws prior to publishing your book.

Good luck.

 

[TigerD]

Related but not relevant:
Law and the Multiverse blog is a great read.

DC

 

[quincy]

Related but not relevant:
Law and the Multiverse blog is a great read.

DC

I hadn't run across that website before.

This forum frequently gets posters who are writing fictional books and wanting to know if what they are writing reflects legal reality. That blog, written by two attorneys, could be a great resource for them.

http://lawandthemultiverse.com