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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jerik" data-source="post: 8913605" data-attributes="member: 7039785">No, they're not, but I don't think that necessarily allows you to just use names from a copyrighted work willy-nilly.  I'd think a case could still be made that you're creating a derivative work.For instance, according to a search I just did on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website, the name "Anakin Skywalker" is currently trademarked for use in "men's, women's, and children's clothing and athletic wear" and "toys, games, and playthings", but not, oddly, for use in books or movies.  (Another difference between trademarks and copyrights is that you have to register trademarks for specific purposes; they're not general purpose like copyrights.  "Anakin Skywalker" was previously trademarked for use in books, but that trademark expired in 2009; apparently now that there are no current movies being made or books being published about the character it was decided it wasn't worth paying the fee to renew the trademark.)  Does that mean you could write a book about a space wizard named Anakin Skywalker (and maybe also use the names of other Star Wars characters who aren't currently trademarked for use in books), as long as you didn't explicitly use any trademarked Star Wars IP?  Almost certainly not; Disney would take you to court and claim your book was a derivative work of Star Wars, and unless you could somehow make a very convincing case that you had never heard of Star Wars and coincidentally came up with the name on your own, you'd likely lose.Are names like "gnoll" and "treant" distinctive enough that Wizards of the Coast could make a case that any other game using them was a derivative work?  Ehhhh... maybe not, but I doubt it would be so clear-cut that it couldn't at least go to court.(Again, though, IANAL, so take all this for what it's worth.)</blockquote>

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