Is there a clear guideline to follow in order to stay safe when writing original fantasy and using mythology as source material?
Mythology/folk lore vs. copyrighted material
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Guest_Lord E_*
, Nov 06 2005 03:28 AM
10 replies to this topic
#3
Guest_Lord E_*
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Posted 06 November 2005 - 08:52 AM
What I mean is that in most copyrighted fantasy works mythology and folklore has been used as source material. Where is the line drawn if Wizards of the Coast, Neil Gaiman or Tolkien's family decided that I am plagiarizing them when I am using the same myths in my original work?
#4
Guest_Silrana_*
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Posted 06 November 2005 - 01:33 PM
What I mean is that in most copyrighted fantasy works mythology and folklore has been used as source material. Where is the line drawn if Wizards of the Coast, Neil Gaiman or Tolkien's family decided that I am plagiarizing them when I am using the same myths in my original work?
I suppose it depends on how close you get to their stuff. For example, Tolkien drew upon legends and myths to create Middle Earth. He didn't invent elves, dwarves, and so on. The same with TSR/WotC. An awful lot of D&D is drawn from the general fantasy genre. However, some monsters are considered copyrighted property because they were original creations. I believe beholders fall into that category.
Your question isn't unique, though, it is something that every writer or creative person in the fantasy genre has to wrestle with. That's why D&D has halflings rather than hobbits, and treants rather than ents. They couldn't get too close to aspects of Tolkien's works that could be classed as original rather than legendary. Of course, both the idea of smaller races and walking intelligent trees wasn't original to Tolkien, but the names were his.
You may be able to search the net and find at least some of what you need. WotC has legal info on their website, at least last time I poked around, so you might be able to find out what aspects are copyrighted.
And before I go, a funny story. Back when Fellowship of the Ring was released in the theatre, Dave Gaider and I were still occassionally emailing each other. He mentioned that when he went to see the movie, he took a much younger co-worker with him. After the movie, his friend complained, "I don't see what the fuss was about, the whole thing was full of stereotypes. The pretty elven archer, the gruff dwarf with an axe, the stoic ranger, the comic relief halflings, the mysterious super-powerful wizard... It's the same stuff we've seen a million times." Dave said he had to explain to his friend that Tolkien was the one who *created* the stereotypes that everyone else was basing their stuff on.
#5
Laufey
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Posted 06 November 2005 - 02:52 PM
As Silrana said, as long as you don't use concepts created by the writers in question, you should be entirely within your rights. It's not as if any of them invented elves, dwarves, dragons, gnomes or wizards in the first place. Oh yes, and though TSR might own the concept of 'drow', 'Dark Elves' are part of original Scandinavian mythology. Better not have them wielding scimitars, though. 
Rogues do it from behind.
#6
Guest_Oyster Girl_*
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Posted 07 November 2005 - 12:41 PM
As a quick check for WotC, look at which monsters have been released under the Open Gaming License. Those will be the ones drawn from mythology. The original creations, the ones they retain rights to, won't be on that list.What I mean is that in most copyrighted fantasy works mythology and folklore has been used as source material. Where is the line drawn if Wizards of the Coast, Neil Gaiman or Tolkien's family decided that I am plagiarizing them when I am using the same myths in my original work?
Be careful, lest the Magical Knights come for you.
#7
Guest_Cardhwion_*
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Posted 07 November 2005 - 12:51 PM
As far as my knowledge goes, there is no copyright on mythology. Mind, mythology is different from various things you often find in fantasy genre. No one can have a copyright on the race of trolls, for example. They are common enough in scandinavian mythology, but if you have them turn to stone at sunlight... well, you may collide with Tolkien. So it's a complicated field. But sometimes you can easily avoid things. Let's say you have some kind dark elven race, as mentioned above, and you don't want to be associated with drow. Then give them a different name, at first. Call them Asyan'dyr meaning 'those who bow to the shadow alone', and no one can fine you on that one.
#8
Laufey
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Posted 07 November 2005 - 04:19 PM
Actually, it wasn't Tolkien's idea that trolls turn to stone in sunlight. There's an old tale of Thor, the thunder god, tricking a giant/troll into chatting with him all night (possibly it was guessing riddles, don't remember for sure) until the troll/giant turned to stone when the sun came up.
Oh, and Gandalf was originally the name of a dwarf.
There's an old tale of Thor, the thunder god, tricking a giant/troll into chatting with him all night (possibly it was guessing riddles, don't remember for sure) until the troll/giant turned to stone when the sun came up. Oh, and Gandalf was originally the name of a dwarf.
Rogues do it from behind.
#9
Guest_Lord E_*
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Posted 07 November 2005 - 04:54 PM
Actually, it wasn't Tolkien's idea that trolls turn to stone in sunlight.
That's exactly the kind of problem I'm thinking of. Also, where is the line drawn which idea is 'original enough'? The work I'm thinking about blends mythology with real world as Sandman comics also do (the approach is quite different though). Would I violate Gaiman's copyrights if i.e. a mythological creature posing as a human happened to have same occupation or lived in same country as in his works? It is quite possible that the same idea occurs to two people when using the same source material for ideas.
#10
Laufey
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Posted 08 November 2005 - 07:33 PM
This is only an educated guess, but I'd say it would depend on how detailed the resemblance was. For example, I hardly think you could be found at fault for having a modern day version of Loki inhabiting Scandinavia, since it's his natural habitat, but if some other writer had written him as making a living by selling fire insurance (as in insuring buildings you inhabit don't burn down) and you copied that, I'd say it was plagiarism.
Rogues do it from behind.
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