Is it illegal?

Question

If I'm writing a book and wanted elvish in it, could I take, for example, elvish words from an online elvish dictionary then change the spelling to use in my book? The words would not actually mean what the elvish dictionary would be saying but just for the sound of it. Is that illegal?

For example:

site: http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/elvish/eng_to_elv.html

If I were to take the word "Aglar" which means "Glorious" and put it in my book as "Aglahr" but using it as a name of a character.

Answer 1

Before you publish your book, you need to consult a lawyer. His or her answer will probably be that what you are contemplating would be plagiarism, but I don't know. That's why you need to consult a lawyer.

Answer 2

I think in the particular case you are talking about, it would be obvious that all you are doing is changing the spelling of words that someone else invented.

The key concept here is "invented". There were never any actual elves, so you can't claim that the language was in comon use before the publication of the dictionary. For instance, just because I see an online dictionary of the words used in "Dune" doesn't mean I can write a story featuring the Bene Jesserit (not sure about spelling, too lazy to look up) or the Fremen, or freely use stillsuits and other "Dune" concepts or words in my work.

It would be best to get permission to use longer passages; you're probably OK "attributing" (mentioning where you got it) for shorter passages.

If the elvish is an important part of your book, though, you should make up your own.

Answer 3

I wouldn't think it's illegal. If it's a real dictionary, it's fair game. If it'd be considered plagiarism to take words from a dictionary, we couldn't use any words at all since most every word is in a dictionary.
But, it would always be best to consult an expert on this, like a lawyer or someone who knows about copyrights.

Answer 4

Without permission, yes it is, this is what i found:
I am not a lawyer, so my assessment of the legality of a work is simply my opinion, based upon my personal, lay understanding of copyright and fair use , as well as what I know of the express conditions and positions of the Tolkien Estate on these issues. For instance, it is my understanding that it is illegal to publish even a single word from an unpublished Tolkien manuscript without the Estate's permission (in accordance with several copyright cases and with the contractual conditions of access to such material imposed by the Estate and the archives and agreed to by all who are granted access). It is in any event obviously against the wishes of the Tolkien Estate that any such publication be made, so even if the legality of this act is arguable, my opinion of such an act is not, and I won't support or condone it. Likewise, publication of more than a bare fraction of a single published work, or of a substantial word-list or dictionary drawn from one or more of Tolkien's languages (as represented in published works), does not, in my lay opinion as a non-lawyer and in that of the Estate as expressed to me, enjoy Fair Use protection. Hence, any work quoting previously unpublished information, and nearly all of the word-lists and dictionaries currently available, on the Web or in printed form, if published without the Estate's permission, may be in violation of copyright laws and/or otherwise illegal, and are certainly in violation of the positions and policies of the Tolkien Estate. Those who are respecters of law and/or of Tolkien's work and wishes are encouraged to write the authors of such works and urge them to seek the Tolkien Estate's permission.


Yes even if you change the spelling, it would be hard to prove you did not use the resources of tolkiens elvish, but if you didnt call it elvish and then did drastically change the spelling, you might get away with it.

--- after your recent repost, I would say legally you can do that, thats ok ( referring to the name change to Algahr)

Answer 5

not if its in a dictionary. you cant get in trouble for using words from a dictionary, or even changing the lettering and making your own word and have it mean something different. but why not go ahead and use it straight from the dictionary, and maybe youd want to credit that dictionary at the end.

Answer 6

If you change both the spelling and the meaning, anyone who wanted to prove that you'd cribbed those words would have a hard time doing so. Of course, if you adapted your fantasy words from, say, Latin or Gaelic, you'd have no problem. They're not copyrighted!

Answer 7

Elvish has left the building.

Answer 8

"lord of the rings" words? (they have a dictionary posted and probably a copywrite)
elves and words of elves??
so where you elves are from???
German? Irish? Australia?
Africa?
the words should be from the land
that is what i would base things as..
a Chinese elf..would use..Asian or Russian words..symbols..
etc..and then no enfringement..
a Buddist/Asian elf..would use that as symbols..
an Aussie Elf would have a "walk - about" and not have to worry about "crockadile Dundee"..
good luck

etc..

Answer 9

Taking the words from another published source is illegal, regardless of what meaning you assign to them. However, you can make similar sounding words and use those with no problem. Otherwise, you could email the administrators of that site and ask if you can have the written permission to use their language, if you prefer.

Answer 10

well if u copy the story and just change a few words and say that that is ur work then yes, if u state that u took the story out from another book then i dont think that that is illegal.