Copyright? Copywrong!

So I'm working on a story arc in AE and I decide to title it "The Gambit" because there are some twists and turns, schemes, etc. that seem to be the general theme of the arc. I wasn't even thinking about the Marvel character at the time. But the game won't let me use that name because it says it's copyrighted.

Well, I understand that Marvel has a character named Gambit, but the word itself is not copyrighted! If it were, think of how many books, stories, even opening chess moves, would be a violation of that copyright!

In addition, words like "wolverine," "cyclops," and yes, even "recluse" are NOT copyrighted words. They are simply words. You can find them in the dictionary with definitions OTHER than fictional characters.

Now, I understand that if I make a character in COH and name that character Gambit, I am at least in a gray area, if not an actual violation of copyright law. However, to simply use the word "gambit" is not and using that word in a story arc name is not either.

I'm not sure if this has ever been brought up (I searched but found nothing), but I think it should be addressed. I realize that this forum is intended to allow players to help other players and, thus, may not be the right venue for my post, but perhaps it can at least get the attention of other players who agree with me, if not get the attention of the powers-that-be to change this oversight.

It was brought up MANY times when AE first came out. The first time I saw it happen was someone who wanted to place a Boss Fight objective with a Cimeroran Cyclops as the boss. He didn't want to give it a special name, but that objective type forced him to. So he tried to give it the default name. Bam! Error.

At this point, I think most people have resigned themselves to "It's stupid, but it's not going to change."

I am guessing they are taking a shotgun approach for safety. They have no way of knowing what context you are going to use the name in and I doubt the manpower to monitor it all of the time. AE is an automated process so not allowing it at all was probably the easiest option. You know that if there were contexts where it were allowed someone would come along and find a way around it.

Inconvenient? Sure, but those are the rules we have to live by right now.

Better safe then sorry. I agree with you but do we realy want to waste resources policing name game or creating the awesome terrific going rogue, nuff said.

It's not a copyright. It's a trademark. Unfortunately, even though it isn't related to the character, the use of the name in a superhero context could be close enough to cause confusion.

In this case, though, it's likely that there is a global list of filtered words, and Gambit is just on it so it can't be created as a character. Try a synonym.

I wonder if "Going Rogue" would get Zapped, after all we all know Marvel owns that name too.

the devs have said that they do not mind using anything thats already in-game for an AE story. you could make an arc with lord recluse in it and even change the character description.

now for anything outside the game thats a different story.

as for going rogue, its obvious they are not trying to copy anything and i doubt anything willhappen (since the knowledge of it has been around for at least a year)

Going Rogue, for me, falls under Infernokrusher syndrome.

tl;dr version: Some people decided "Slipstream" was a lame SF genre, and should be replaced by "Infernokrusher", SF about running people over with monster trucks. On fire. Someone associated with Games Workshop objected to the name on the grounds that GW had a magazine named "Inferno." I suggested T-shirts that said "Sue Dante."

Thread contains NSFW text including suggestions of giant robot monster slashfic.