In my book, copyright law?

Question

i have some elvish words that sound and almost mean the same things in another book. but it's spelled differently. i was gonna change the words later anyway but i was wondering if that would be illegal to publish the book the way it is.

Answer 1

It's iffy. If your book becomes a runaway bestseller, it is possible you might be hauled into court, but it is doubtful you will make enough off it for it to be worth suing you. The only reason the author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail went after Dan Brown was because The Da Vinci Code was outselling his book like 100 to 1.

However on a personal note, I always believe in going with originalism. Can't you make up your own words? If you are writing the book, you should be able to. Pax- C

Answer 2

Copyright laws govern the right to copy. In the least you shoud give credit where crdit is due. In most cases all you have to do is ask for permission. You can be sued if your work is infringment on the rights of others. It is called plagirarism..

Answer 3

i wouldnt worry about it too much. check the book and see if they copyrighted the language or specific words. if you actually get to the point of publishing the work, inform your publisher of the concern, or simply contact the writer or his/her estate to get permission to use the phrase. dont let it hinder your writing.

if you are really worried about it, simply have a backup phrase, or write the phrase backwards and see if it still sounds feasable as a language. its your book, you can make the language sound however you want.

Answer 4

If the author of the original work really cared, you could be sued for copywrght infringement.